Wandering of a Sword Hero
by A Dyslexic Writer
Summary: Shirou never expected to be summoned to another world, but now all he wants to do is finish save it so that he could return home to his family. But it order to return home, he will first have to survive. First rule of surviving as a summoned hero, don't trust ANYONE. (Retiring this story)
1. Chapter 1

"Alright Illya, it's time to go to sleep." Shirou said as he gently shook one of the girl's shoulders.

"Ugh, Onii-chan, can't I do just one more raid?" The small girl pouted, trying to use her adorableness in order to get her way. Even after five years, Illya had barely changed at all. Though her body bore small rashes from prana poisoning, she still had the appearance of a ten-year-old girl and looked as fragile as a doll. The things that the Einzbern family did to her body in order to extend her youth still had effect… as well as the changes they made to her in order to empower her for the Holy Grail.

The Pseudo-Spiritrons, or whatever the hell that material was that the Einzbern's used in order to make the artificial magic circuits that now made up 80% of Illya's body, had not meshed well with her. They had predicted that Illya would have only had a single year to live before her body collapsed completely under the strain of harboring these fake circuits. It was only because of Avalon's passive healing power, as well as several other forms of healing magecraft dug up by Rin, Sakura and even Rider that the girl was still alive. But even then, it was only enough to extend the girl's life, not cure her. Even Avalon's effects were not enough, not with the false circuits working against it, not when the thing poisoning Illya's body was part of her body, and not without Saber.

It wasn't until recently that Shirou gained access to the information and funds, through his work as a mercenary, needed to pursue an actual cure. He had been made to fight three Dead Apostles at once, with minimal back up, in order to get it, but it was worth it. The Clock Tower had probably been expecting him to die, maybe even hoping that he would. They seemed to suspect the true nature of his magecraft and probably wanted to experiment on him, but with so many big names having taken a liking to Shirou, they couldn't attack him without risking angering the likes of the Wizard Marshal, so instead they just gave him increasingly more life-threatening missions, hoping that he would die on his own.

"There will be plenty of time for that later. You need to get your rest." Shirou said. He should have been scolding her for staying up as late as she had already, but he didn't have the heart to do it. The… procedure? Ritual? What you want to call the sort of magical surgery they were going to use to remove the fake circuits from her body and replacing it with normal tissue without killing her. It was scheduled to happen in three days' time. Everyone felt like they were walking on eggshells because of it.

"Okay." Illya relented, logging out of her game and taking off her immersion-VR helmet and putting it on her bedside table.

Fascinating things those helmets, providing not just visuals and sound, but also letting the wearer smell, feel and taste whatever was in the game. The things appeared out of nowhere three years back and were considered several decades ahead of their time. The strange thing was that no one knew who invented them and the software was so advanced that no game developer could create things for them, so they only had a single game that was supported. Still, they were a hit that blew everything else off the market. When everyone else was barely managing to make gaming platform to have HD support, it was little wonder why the futuristic headsets were so popular.

Rin and Sakura both suspected Zelretch of having brought them over from a more technologically advanced timeline as his little way of being nice to Illya, after her condition had rendered her bedridden, but the old man denied any involvement. Shirou also had his doubts. If Zelretch felt that strongly about helping Illya, he could have just helped them cure her using the knowledge he had gained over the infinite dimensions.

Regardless, Illya had become addicted to the VR game. A way to explore a whole new world and interact with new people, and all without having to get out of bed. Shirou was happy that she had something she could do, though the constant string of gamer and anime jargon left him baffled more often than not.

Shirou helped her remove the tangle of wires that were connected to the VR helmet from around Illya and placed it on her bedside table. Shirou went and turned off the lights, but before he could leave the room, Illya's voice stopped him. "Onii-chan… would you stay with me tonight?" Illya asked him, her voice pleading.

Shirou paused in the doorway for a moment, his mind going back to the times when Illya would have slipped into his bed at night while he was asleep, and he would find her grabbing onto his arm in the morning. It was things like that the made Shirou realize that while Illya was older than him and smarter than he was, that without the changes in hormones brought about by aging, she still only a little girl in terms of maturity. She was still his little sister.

Over time, and as her health took a turn for the worse, she stopped sneaking into his room at night. He never really thought he would miss those embarrassing moments.

Shirou grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to Illya's bedside and sat down. He would stay there, holding her hand, until she managed to get to sleep.

"Onii-chan, if something happens, and I… don't make it…" Illya said softly, Shirou felt bile rise in the back of his throat at her words but fought to keep his body under control. He knew that what they were trying could best be described as experimental and that there was a very real chance that despite their best efforts… that his little sister could die. "I want you to know that I'm glad that I was able to spend these last few years of my life with you. It made me really happy."

"Don't talk like that. I'll make sure that everything turns out okay." Shirou said, tears starting to form in his eyes, though he kept himself quiet. He was glad for the darkness of the room that would hide his weakness from his little sister's eyes.

"I'm glad we had a chance to be a family, Onii-chan."

"Yeah… I'm glad too." Shirou said weakly.

Time passed and Illya's breathing stopped being the fake calm she used when she was pretending to be asleep and became the adorable half snorting sounds that she sometimes made when she was actually asleep, giving Shirou the chance to get up and go to the bathroom and splash water on his face in order to wipe away the trails left by his tears.

Looking up into the mirror he saw his own strange face staring back at him. Though he was only twenty-two or twenty-three, his deep red hair was full of white streaks that caused him to get looks whenever he walked out in public. He counted his blessings that most of the scarred skin from the times when he had used more prana than was advisable was on parts of his body normally covered by clothes. Though there was no denying that he was starting to look more and more like Archer with each passing battle.

That didn't bother him as much as it once might have. He didn't hate Archer, not anymore. He had come to terms with who Archer was and took a sort of comfort in knowing that he was not that man. Archer had been a person who had in life held all lives to be equal and sought to protect as many as possible. This way of looking at things had been what had ultimately driven everyone who once cared about him away and was the reason why Archer had died alone and miserable, only made worse when his afterlife was basically his own personal hell.

It was only after meeting Archer and finding out about his Father's participation in the Fourth Heaven's Feel that Shirou realized something. That the dream he had been chasing all his life was built on an incorrect assumption.

The smile Kiritsugi had given him in that fire hadn't been the smile of a man who had saved someone's life. It had been the smile of a man drowning in despair and guilt who was given the chance to take one final breath before being swallowed completely.

No matter how many people Archer saved, that smile had never been his, not until his final moments during the Fifth Heaven's Feel when he had been told the words that he had always wanted to hear during his eternal torment. 'You were not wrong.'

Shirou had abandoned his dream of becoming a Hero of Justice. Not entirely. He still believed that it wasn't wrong to try and help people, he just couldn't see the people he cared about, Illya, Sakura, Rin, and Rider, and say that their lives were not worth any more to him than any other human beings. To him, they were worth more than the world. Though they still routinely got angry at him for not putting more of a value on his own life.

Shirou turned off the water in the sink, dried off his face and started to head back to his room. Rin, Sakura and Rider would all be arriving in the morning. He would need to get some sleep while he had the chance. Those three probably wouldn't let him have another chance to for a few days if they had their way.

But as he walked down the hall his vision grew dim and his consciousness began to fade.

* * *

The first thing that registered with Shirou was the sword gripped in his hand. A blade of a quality he could hardly believe in. It was as if he was holding the world's very idea of a sword itself.

[Legendary Holy Sword]

…Bland as the name was, it was a blade that in its truest form was every bit the equal to Excalibur. A wish of the world given physical form and a Divine Construct. Only rather than thirteen seals holding back the EX rank blade's world-shaking power, this sword had hundreds of millions of seals. While the thirteen Restraints of the Round Table had been enough to bring Excalibur's power down to a 'mere' A++ rank Noble Phantasm, the sheer number of seals placed on this weapon's power left it so pathetic as to be comparable to an oversized butter knife.

There were so many seals and restrictions that trying to grasp them was giving Shirou a splitting headache, and the young man couldn't make out any more than its base form. Shirou tried to decipher the seals to see if they could be removed, but as the weapon seemed to have no history, as if it had been born that very moment, so he had nothing to draw on to find out how to undo the seals.

"Ugh…" Shirou heard groans around him, making him realize that he was not alone and that his face was currently pressed against a cold stone floor.

Shirou looked around him and saw that he was lying on a strange alter with three other guys, each holding a different weapon… and there was glowing paint… and people in priest like robes… and knights.

"Oh please tell me this isn't what I think it is?" Shirou said, closing his eyes and trying to will the world into not fucking with him.

"Oh, honorable Heroes! Please, save our world!"

…Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

Shirou had known that other worlds existed. Zelretch's existence was no great secret, and the old vampire had occasionally given Rin and Shirou interesting little experiences by allowing them to see the world through the eyes of themselves in alternate realities. There was the temptation to write this entire thing off as his doing, but Zelretch wasn't such an asshole as to do something like this so close to Illya's big day. His sense of morality might have been a little twisted from essentially living in a million different cultures at the same time though his connection with his parallel universe selves, but some things were universally accepted as 'not okay'.

Besides, Shirou could see the various magus around him, as well as the circle and catalyst that they used in their summons. This was a ritual performed knowingly by people from this world. Which lead to the ever-important question, 'Are these people insane?'

Shirou didn't sense any kind of binding magecraft nearby. No command seals or memory altering magic. He still was in fool possession of his free will. Did these people honestly summon heroes to their world to fight for them without any means to control them what-so-ever?

"You must have many questions, but time is short. You are the chosen Heroes, summoned here by an ancient ritual." One of the robed man said bowing his head as if in worship of the 'heroes'.

"Summoned…?" One of the other three summoned individuals said as he stepped forward in a noticeably aggressive manner, a spear, one of a quality equal to the sword Shirou now held, was tapping against his shoulder. Though the glee in his voice didn't match his body language. "Don't you guys have any shame at all, suddenly dragging us here without our permission?"

"Even if you send us home when the job is done, that's basically just using us as slave labor, you know?" A second added, a younger individual who was probably still in high school and carried a bow. Just like the spear wielder, he seemed to be getting some kind of kick out of this. What was it about Lancers and Archers being assholes?

"Huh?" The final member of their party said dumbly. The young man with the shield seemed like the only person there who was genuinely surprised to having been summoned.

However, as the bow and spearman did exactly what one would expect a summoned hero to do if they found out that their summoner had neglected to prepare command seals, asking such important questions as 'what's in if for me' and 'give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you', Shirou noticed something strange in his peripheral vision. Some kind of circle in the corner of his eyes that moved with him as he turned his head, almost as if he had a smudge on a pair of glasses.

Curious about what he could only describe as being an icon at the edge of his sight, Shirou focused his attention on the small button.

Immediately a sort of… menu filled his vision, startling Shirou a good deal.

[Status Magic Main Menu]

Status magic? What the hell was status magic? While the grail system has just a thing like statuses Shirou never really had access to it. Rin had, but she had never described what it looked like. Shirou's eyes looked over the menu and tried to figure out what he was looking at.

'Class: Sword Hero Lv. 1', was printed in English characters in one of the boxes, right under Shirou's name, along with a list of things such as 'attack', 'defense', 'speed', and 'magic', each with numbers going with them that must have been a measurement of how Shirou was in each of those categories. The stat labeled 'cooking' had an especially large number next to it.

Lv… that stood for level, right? Shirou was never much for games but he was fairly sure he had seen that before. So Lv 1 must have meant he was pretty low down then. Perhaps they weren't so stupid as to summon their heroes at full power right off the bat.

Shirou did a quick check of his magic circuits and the condition of his body, but everything came up clean. Nothing was interfering with him as far as he could tell. Maybe there was a system in place that would allow for them to gain greater power then?

"P-Please, at least have an audience with the king before you do anything rash. You can discuss the details of your compensation there." The priest stammered after receiving a string of threats from the all too cheerful spear and bow holders.

"Well, I guess that is that." "Still, talk is talk, even if it is with a king." The two trouble-makers said as they followed the priest out of the secluded room they were summoned in. Shirou followed behind along with the shield guy, with one eye watching for anything that looked like an enemy attack with his other continued to look at the Status screen in front of him.

[Weapon Tree]

That particular option was the first thing to jump out at Shirou as he looked over the screen. He focused on it with his one eye, willing it to expose its contents to him. It opened and his screen was filled with some kind of graph, with one colored bubble in the center and several other bubbles connecting to it and one and other filling the screen all around it, passing past the edge of his vision.

[Legendary Holy Sword – Base Form (0/10) – Quality: Very Low Quality – Base Power: 1 – Proficiency: (0%)]

It didn't take Shirou long to realize what the tree meant. Each bubble represented one of the seals that had been placed on the Legendary Holy Sword's power. Apparently, there was an order in which they needed to be unlocked in, and several paths that unlocking could take. It still didn't explain how exactly Shirou was supposed to do the unlocking.

Perhaps Shirou was being too distracted by this, as he didn't really care that the Archer and Lancer of this group would probably be getting them all killed pretty soon if they kept this up, but seeing such a powerful Divine Construct basically nerfed into the ground felt like a tragedy.

Had those two not noticed that the weapons they were holding weren't sharp enough to cut cheese with?

The group went through a long corridor, with windows looking out of the castle over the expansive medieval city below. The other summoned individuals seemed interested in the view, acting something like kids in an aquarium. Perhaps they were wondering whether or not they should try conquering it or if its pleasures could best be experienced without the hassle of rulership. Honestly, you can never tell with heroes.

Out of the Servants that had participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War, only Saber wouldn't have considered blowing off a task like saving the world. Rider and Lancer certainly wouldn't have cared enough to do it. Gilgamesh would have told the 'mongrels' that if they couldn't save their damn selves then they deserved to die. Caster, Berserker? As if. Archer and Assassin…? Good question. Even Shirou didn't really understand Archer's train of thought and they didn't know Assassin well enough to know if he was a prick or if it was just Caster making him do dishonorable things.

The point is, it wasn't surprising at all that two of the four people summoned were completely self-centered about everything. That's just how most heroes are. The word hero only refers to someone who achieves personal glory, not a good person.

If things go south, Shirou might have to kill these two in order to protect this world from them.

Strangely enough, despite being summoned to become heroes, they looked rather ordinary.

The man with the spear was just your typical college pretty boy, with long golden hair done in a ponytail, honey colored eyes, and smooth jawline. The kind of guy that even other guys would have to grudgingly admit was handsome. But unless he was using some kind of technique to hide his muscular physique, he only had the kind of body one can achieve from simply eating right and taking a monthly trip to the gym.

The kid with the bow was even less impressive. Sandy brown hair, green eyes, and the kind of school blazer and tie worn in the more snobby of high schools. The boy wasn't just lean, he was scrawny and a little pale. Despite his high and mighty act, he was walking with his head slightly down and his eyes slightly averted so that he only made fake eye contact, as if out of habit. Not so much as to be noticeable by a casual observer, but Shirou was used to looking for even the smallest of signals. It was the sort of thing one sees in people who have been seriously abused in the past… or in a magus who suspects some sort of mental based attack if they make too much eye contact.

Finally, the young man with the shield was constantly looking around with an expression as if he wanted to reach out and touch everything to make sure it was really but was also hesitating because he didn't want to look like an idiot. With his black hair, dark eyes and white hoody, he could have been a guy you would see on any street corner. Shirou half wondered if the guy was high, so he supposed given their situation, that level of dumbfoundedness was understandable… if he had been a normal guy.

Not only was it their physical appearances, Shirou couldn't detect a single drop of prana from any of these guys, save for what came from their weapons. Were they simply hiding their attributes? They seemed to be playing the part of ordinary, if annoying, people in order to get others to drop their guard. Magus were known for playing such games, and since the weapons they were holding seemed to have just been generated during the summons, Shirou couldn't pull anything on these guys.

There was nothing about any of them that would give them away, meaning that Shirou was already at a disadvantage when it came to the information war. With his unique appearance, there was no chance in hell that he could have passed for an ordinary person. Any magus would take one look at him and would instantly know that he was a spellcaster who had pushed the boundary of what his body could handle one too many times. These people might have already been able to conclude who Shirou was already. He hadn't exactly kept a low profile over the last five years.

He was starting behind and not knowing anything… Just like old times.

The entrance to the audience chambers was the stereotypical and needlessly large double doors that took three people on each side just to open. Shirou scanned over the guards and their weapons and was fairly confident in his ability to make his escape from them if things went south. He was less confident when he noticed a smell of mana being manipulated coming from multiple individuals in the room. Though not especially powerful, one does not usually wish to fight multiple magi on their home turf without first doing proper recon.

He half-considered making a break for it, but he couldn't leave yet. He needed to know what the conditions of his summoning was and how he could possibly get back home, preferably before his little sister woke up.

Shirou sniffed at the air, trying to parse out what types of magecraft were present and identify the users. They would be the first targets to take out if someone started to try to place some kind of mind control on him.

"Oh? So these are the heroes of old?" The elderly man wearing a crown said as he looked over the four of them. His eyes were calculative, but in a much more detached way than Rin's. Not that Shirou really cared, he had seen eyes like those a thousand times since he entered the Moonlight World. Though a man has to be pretty confident about his own abilities to look at a group of four summoned heroes with that kind of expression.

He wasn't holding any kind of weapon or artifact, so Shirou felt pretty confident that at his current distance of just over forty feet, he could take the man down before he had time to cast a spell.

Still, best not to antagonize the king of the country, so Shirou bent his head and averted his eyes… though he was the only one that did so.

"I am the king of this country, Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd. Raise your heads, Heroes." King Aultcray said, seeming to have overlooked the fact that the other had not lowered their heads. "Now, I shall explain the current situation. This country… nay, the very world is on the path to ruin. You see great heroes…" The man was about to go into his speech but stopped when Shirou took a few steps forward past the others and dropped to one knee.

"Your Grace. I understand that your world and its people must be desperate for help, however I need to ask that you return me to my world." Shirou said before anyone could stop him. "My younger sister is sick and in three days she is going to be going through an operation that will decide if she lives or dies." Shirou paused and risked a glance up at the king. The man's jaw had dropped slightly, and his eyes were not so distant as before. He stared at Shirou as if seeing him for the first time. "I am the only family she has left. I have to be there for her. If you need me to comeback after that, then fine, I would gladly fight and die for your people, but give me just one week. Please."

"…I'm sorry to hear such. If it was within my power to grant you your request, I would do so gladly. However, only means for which you all can be returned to your own world requires the calamity that threatens this world to be brought to an end… and I am afraid that will take months, if not years." The king said solemnly.

Shirou's heart sank. Months, or maybe years. He had disappeared without a word, just before Illya's operation. He wouldn't be there for her.

What would she think? Would she believe that he had abandoned her? He remembered how she had been when they had first might. How she had been led to believe that her own father had simply turned his back on her, that he had abandoned her and her mother. That belief had traumatized her, and its effects were still present long after she had found out the truth. Now Shirou himself will have disappeared into thin air. The was nothing he could do to reach her.

Requirements met: **[Cursed Series Unlocked – Sword of Sloth]**

Everyone just stared as Shirou remained kneeling on the ground in front of the king.

"Just tell me what you need me to do." Shirou said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "The sooner I save this world, the sooner I can get back to my sister."

"…Very well then." Aultcray said before returning to his speech about what disaster was so great as to warrant the summoning of four heroes.

* * *

The King told them all a story of a prophesy. One that spoke of Wave after Wave of calamities which would befall the country of Melromarc. If nothing was done, the world itself would fall into ruin.

And after hundreds of years the prophecy was starting to come true. The sands of the ancient 'Hourglass of the Dragon's Era' had begun to run once more. According to legend, the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era was supposed to serve as a monthly warning system for the Wave of Calamity.

At first the people had written it off as mere superstition. However, disaster struck the instant the final grain of sand fell, just as the legend said.

A dimensional fissure appeared over Melromarc, and a vast horde of monsters spilled out from within. Though the country's knights and adventurers just barely managed to subdue them, the next Wave was expected to be even stronger. There was no way they would be able to stop the calamity a second time. And so, the leaders of the country decided to enact the ancient summoning of Heroes, in hopes that they might be saved.

* * *

Shirou didn't believe a word that came out of the king's mouth. He had learned from dealing with magi to not be so trusting. He already knew that this was a speech designed to appeal to the heroes in an attempt to control them. Also, experience had taught him to never trust anyone who dealt in politics. That and religion. Especially if they were magi, and the King smelled strongly of some kind of unusual prana. Shirou would have to find a way to get the real story later.

The strange thing was, this story the King told about Waves and the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era sounded familiar, though Shirou couldn't put his finger on where he had heard those terms before.

"Uh huh. So, you expect us to just work for free, then? That's sure convenient for you." The boy with the bow said, crossing his arms in defiance.

"…It really is selfish, you know. Dragging us into a problem that doesn't have anything to do with us." The spearmen agreed.

"Would you two be quiet already." Shirou had had enough of their mouthing off. If there four of them were going to be in the same boat, Shirou would prefer if that boat didn't sink. "It is only common sense that they will compensate us for our efforts, but if you keep acting so difficult, they might start wondering if we aren't too uncontrollable and if they might be better off just killing the four of us and summoning a new batch instead." Shirou scolded the other two 'heroes'.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we are at a disadvantage here." Shirou added, lifting his sword and tapping its blade heavily against his free hand to demonstrate just how dull its edge was. "Legendary and indestructible these weapons maybe, but they have so many seals on them that they are useless at the moment. You'd have a better chance killing someone with a twig than these things. So if these fine guardsmen, with their weapons and magic, decide to take us down, we might not be making it out of here alive."

"Uh… yeah, let's not antagonize anybody." The Shielder said with a nod, one hand going towards the small shield attached to his other arm. Lancer and Archer paled as the Lancer gingerly checked the point of his Legendary Holy Spear to find out that it wouldn't be capable of drawling blood, then looked at just how many guards there were in that room.

"The heroes needn't worry. As you have already surmised, you will be richly compensated for your efforts." The king said, waving down at the four heroes in an attempt to ease their worry. "Besides that, we could also prepare discretionary funds to support you all on your journeys. It's a small price to pay to ensure your cooperation in saving our world."

Hearing this made the other three heroes considerably happier, though they now didn't speak up, either in thanks or to mouth off. They were now much more aware of the situation.

"Now then, Heroes. Tell me your names." The King requested of them.

"Ah… The name's Kitamura Motoyasu, I'm 21 and a college student." The Lancer, Motoyasu, said, not sounding too confident anymore.

"My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. I'm a 17-year-old high-school student." Itsuki, the bowman said from his position next to Motoyasu.

Shirou was next in line, but rather than giving his real name, age and occupation, he lied. "Fugimaru Issei, age 28, I work as a repairman." As a magus, you don't give out any information for free. He had no way of knowing how magecraft worked in this world. Giving away one's real name might be magical suicide here for all he knew. However, openly denying them his identity could cause problems. Best to just lie to them about it.

"A repairman?" Motoyasu repeated, raising an eyebrow and half smirking. It was unlikely that the man believed Shirou, but it didn't matter. Even if he knew who Shirou really was, he had no proof that Shirou… or rather Issei was lying.

"I guess that just leaves me. The name's Iwatani Naofumi, and I'm a 20-year-old college student." The Shielder said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

The King stared at Naofumi as the guy introduced himself, and Shirou was surprised to see the obvious hate in his aura. How in the world could he already hate the guy so much when Naofumi had only been in this world for a few minutes? He'd even been the quietest one so far.

"Hmm. Motoyasu, Itsuki, and Issei, eh?" The king repeated their names, seeming to purposely neglect to say Naofumi's.

"…Uh, Your Majesty? What about me?" The Shield asked a little nervously.

"Oh, my. My sincerest apologies… Naofumi." The king replied… this was getting weird. Just like it wasn't smart for the heroes to antagonize the locals so early, when they weren't at full strength, it was perhaps even dumber for the locals to be antagonizing one of the summoned heroes. What was the king thinking?

Next the group was instructed on how to check their statuses, causing another round of nervous shifting when Motoyasu and Itsuki saw that they were only level 1. Much of the confidence they had before disappeared.

Shirou was more surprised to find out that everyone in this world seemed to have access to Status Magic, and it wasn't simply part of the summoning ritual. It wasn't the weirdest quirk for a world to have, that would be the world where people could fly by making chirping sounds and waving their arms and where hair could talk, but it was rather odd all the same.

When he pulled his own menu back up, Shirou noticed the Help Menu, and opened it up, scanning through the list of items on it, he found that it was basically the owner's manual for having a Legendary Holy Weapon. …Oh boy, he was going to have some reading to do over the next few days.

"Being such a low level is making me uneasy." Itsuki said, biting one of his fingers as he stared at something in front of him that Shirou couldn't see, likely his own Status Menu.

"Ah, about that. We would like you to go on a journey to polish your skills and strengthen your legendary weapons." The king explained to them.

"Do you know how we are supposed to unseal our weapon's power?" Shirou asked the king. Hoping to get a hint as to what to do to restore the Divine Construct to its full glory.

"No. I am simply relating the contents of the legend. It is written that 'the summoned Heroes will grow and strengthen their legendary weapons.'" The king explained.

"Again with the legends. So can we at least use something else until these things are strong enough to be useful?" Motoyasu mumbled. He was twirling his spear absentmindedly, showing a familiarity with its weight. "We can worry about that later. For now, we should just focus on getting stronger like they asked."

All four summoned heroes nodded their heads in agreement at this.

"Well then, should the four of us party up?" Naofumi said looking over at the other three.

Shirou froze. Joining forces with three completely unknown to him individuals who were summoned to be heroes, all of whom he suspected of hiding their true nature, just like he was. It went against all the common sense that Rin had beat into him and which had saved his life on multiple occasions when dealing with the Church's Executioners. However, he didn't see a way out of it without showing how much he distrusted the others. His life would be easier if they didn't suspect that he suspected them. The fact that the Shield Hero was the one to suggest it boosted him from the bottom of Shirou suspicious persons list all the way up to the top.

"Wait just a moment, Heroes." The minister who had been standing next to the king stopped them as they were talking about the possibility of teaming up. "The four of you are to gather companions individually, then set off on your own separate journeys."

"Oh? And why is that?" Itsuki asked.

"It's quite simple. According to legend, the weapons you carry naturally repel each other. Should you operate together as a group, you will do nothing but impede each other's growth." The minister clarified for them.

"So you're saying we can't get strong unless we work alone?" Shirou said, raising an eyebrow. Why would four Divine Constructs born for the same purpose by the same world interfere with one and other? It didn't make much sense. However, the mans story seemed to check out as it seemed the weapons themselves had been listening in on the conversation.

* * *

 ** _Caution!_**

 _Working together with your fellow legendary weapon holders will be detrimental to your progress. Please try to operate separately as much as possible._

* * *

"Looks like it's the real deal…" Motoyasu said. He must have gotten the same message as Shirou.

Well, that was alright. Shirou didn't want to be grouped with these people anyways.

"So then, we need to gather companions, I guess?" Naofumi said, sounding a bit dejected by the idea.

"On the contrary, we will gather companions for you. Have no worries, they will be the best of the best. However, the day grows late. For now, rest yourselves and gather your strength. Your journey begins tomorrow." The minister said politely, giving a short bow.

"Thank you." Itsuki said.

"Yeah, thanks." Motoyasu nodded in agreement. The three other heroes seemed to think that it was wonderful that they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of finding allies before starting their journeys. Only Shirou's opinion was different.

Letting himself be followed around everywhere he went by a group of soldiers handpicked by the government/church to keep an eye on him and probably execute him in his sleep if they thought he was becoming a hassle. That didn't seem like a good idea.

No.

The second everyone's backs were turned, Shirou would just disappear and then he would save this world his own way. These people should know that you can't control a hero that easily.

…But he should probably wait until after they give him his money first…

He'd really been around Rin too much.

* * *

 **Becoming the Hero of the Sword would actually be a huge nerf for Shirou, as he isn't allowed to equip any weapon other than the Legendary Holy Sword itself.**

 **No Shirou isn't going to be using his cursed series, he's just unlocked it because he has already going through his heart rending event. As what he is feeling is powerlessness and the inabilities to act, it would likely fall under the sin of sloth.**


	3. Chapter 3

Shirou sat in the guest quarters that the Kingdom had provided for the four heroes as they waited for dinner time. He ignored the talk of the other three for the most part, choosing instead to focus on reading as much of the help menu as humanly possible.

This had less to do with not wanting to interact with the other heroes, and more to do with the fact that there were at three people with their ears up against the door in order to spy on them at the moment. The government was going to try to control him. He was too dangerous to them for them not to, but he didn't know the first thing about them. They could be benevolent, or they could be a bunch of psychopaths. He might be helping the save the world, like they say, or he could be assisting in them conquering it. Until he knew everything about what was going on, he had to take everything they told him with a large fistful of salt. Even commoners couldn't be trusted to tell him the truth if they knew he was the 'Hero of the Sword'.

Digging through the help menu turned up quiet a few useful things… some of which were a little hard to swallow.

Apparently, he could gain 'EXP' and grow levels by killing things, and this would make him stronger. Likewise, if he had a party and one member of the party killed something, all of them gained the same EXP.

His sword could absorb just about anything from metals and stones to plants and animals into the blue jewel in its hilt, and some of these things would be used by the sword in order to unlock seals and allow the blade to take on many different forms. Monster corpses absorb in such a way would have their bodies converted into 'drop items' and 'Demon Soul Points'. The DSP could be spent in order to empower one of the swords individual forms.

Each form that the sword could take also had a 'proficiency' gage with it. Once it reached 100% proficiency, the sword's proficiency gage could be drained back down to 0% in order to gain some kind of energy that could also be used to empower one of the blade's forms by awakening it, which in practice means unlocking the seal again.

Shirou couldn't really follow the logic behind all of it, why the physical manifestation of the world's idea of a sword would choose to take on properties of a shrub, but perhaps he just needed to experiment with it a little.

So far, the only form he had unlocked besides the base for was the 'Sword of Sloth', which was part of the 'Cursed Series'. Though the amount that the help menu had to say on the subject was rather underwhelming, if ominous.

 ** _Curse Series_**

 _A weapon that grants power and consumes the user. Hero! Do not use it._

Not that Shirou would have used it anyways. With the weapon unsealed, Shirou could grasp this forms existence, and the things he learned were definite turn offs.

While the Sword of Sloth was the equal to a D rank Noble Phantasm and could lead to unlocking even more powerful forms of itself, the cost was simply too great to pay. Using the Sword of Sloth drained the wielder and everyone around them of their will to keep going. As the weapon was directly connected to his soul, no amount of magic resist would help him avoid its effect. He might be able to resist through sheer thick headedness, but that would be too much of a gamble to experiment with.

Best to avoid the thing all together. Wasn't like he didn't have better options anyways inside of his Unlimited Blade Works. In truth, he had yet to see a good reason to use the Legendary Holy Sword at all, besides the promise of what it might become if he unlocked enough of its seals.

A much more convenient feature of the weapon was the ability to translate any and all languages that exist in this world. Sadly that didn't include written languages. If Shirou wanted to find anything out from history books or old religious works, then he would need to learn how to read the local language.

That shouldn't be that hard. He had already learned eight different languages in the last four years in order to continue his studies into magecraft. Learning them has become easier and easier with each one he had learned. Perhaps he could find someone to teach it to him before he left the castle. Besides just teaching him incorrectly, they couldn't really give him any false information there.

"Hey Issei!" Motoyasu shouted. It took Shirou a moment to realize that the spear holder was talking to him. "Tell this kid that I'm right and that this world is Dimension Wave!" The college age man said, pointing at Itsuki.

"No it isn't, it's Emerald Online. You call yourself a gamer and you've never even heard of Emerald Online." Itsuki spat back.

"To be far, I call myself a gamer and I haven't heard of either of these things." Naofumi said, scratching the back of his head as he looked in puzzlement at the two arguing heroes.

"Hm… sorry, I wasn't listing. What's this about?" Shirou admitted, blinking at the two.

"They are both saying that all the mechanics for how the weapons work and the story about the Dragon Hourglass come from a video game they played, but they can't agree on what game it was." Naofumi summarized for Shirou.

"…Oh." Shirou said dumbly. That had been why the story of the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era had sounded so familiar, it had been from that video game that Illya had played all the time. The one on the VR helmet… which had appeared out of nowhere in a very suspicious fashion… "Now that you mention it, I remember a game like that too. My little sister played it all the time. I think it was called… Bravestar Online or something like that."

"What, not another one!?" Motoyasu said, shaking his head. "Why is it that we are all remembering different things?"

"…I'd guess it would be because we aren't from the same timelines." Shirou said with a slight shrug. After all, there were timelines were King Arthur was a girl. Just about everything was true somewhere in the multiverse. Almost all magi knew about parallel worlds and string theory to some extent.

"Different timelines?" Itsuki said, seeming to be considering the idea. "I suppose that is possible. It would explain why they hadn't heard of a game as popular as Emerald Online. It's been the most popular online game for the last 30 years."

"…30 years." Naofumi said with a hard swallow. "That's a long time to be at the top of the market."

"Let me guess, the game came out with no known publisher and was decades ahead of its time." Shirou said, Itsuki paused for a moment before nodded. "Same goes for in my world, though the game and the VR technology it runs on appeared just three years ago."

"I guess if you assume that other worlds exist, different Japans isn't that much of a stretch." Motoyasu said with a nod. "Also, there was the same kind of questions about the makers of Dimension Wave as well. Though I had thought it was just a story made up to boost sales at the time."

"Then, how about a question based on common knowledge?" Naofumi suggested and begun to start of listing topics. Needless to say, they all concluded that they had come from different worlds.

"It looks like we're all from totally different Japans, huh?" Motoyasu said, collapsing onto the bench with an exhausted sigh.

"Yeah. No matter how you look at it there's no way we all came from the same world." Naofumi said with a shrug.

"Still, fantasy worlds are one thing, but who'd have thought that alternate Japans exist too?" Motoyasu laughed in response.

"Well, there's still the possibility that we came from the same world but different eras, but with so many inconsistencies it's seeming less and less likely." Itsuki pointed out. Shirou stayed out of the conversation. Best not to let them know just how experienced he was with alternate timelines.

"Based on the way things have been going, I'd wager we all ended up here under different circumstances, too." Motoyasu said after a few moments of digesting what had been said.

"Probably." Itsuki said his head falling a little as he said it. "I was on my way to school when a garbage truck took a corner too fast and hit me… next thing I knew I was in that chamber with the rest of you."

"Ouch." Naofumi said with a wince and Motoyasu nodded in agreement. Shirou only blinked in surprise. Someone with the qualifications to be summoned… died from being hit by a car. Was he telling the truth, or was this a lie to seem sympathetic?

"I'll go next." Motoyasu said, lightheartedly gesturing toward himself. "Before I came here, I had a lot of girlfriends, you know?"

"I figured as much." Naofumi said.

Motoyasu ignored him and just kept going. "And so, because of that..."

"...you were two or three-timing them and got stabbed, right?" Itsuki said, finishing off for the guy. It seemed like his comment was supposed to be sarcastic, but Motoyasu just blinked his eyes in surprise and nodded.

"...Women are scary." Motoyasu said nervously. Naofumi looked at the guy with disgust, but Shirou could only snort with contained laughter.

"That proves it, you really are a hero." Shirou said through his chuckles.

"Hey, its not funny." Motoyasu said, a little defensively.

"I don't mean it to be." Shirou said before holding up one finger to signal being quiet. He then stood up and walked over to the door, startling the other three when he slammed his hand against it, causing the whole door to raddle. He then opened the door to reveal two people, one a maid and the other a guard, who had fallen to the ground after being startled by Shirou's unexpected action. "Hello there. No need to listen from the doorway like this." Shirou said, mixing a killer intent into his magical energy and allowing it to leak out, producing a terrifying aura that he washed over the two. "Please, join us." He said with a too big smile.

The two spies paled before running away as fast as they could. Shirou shook his head before closing the door.

"Damned spies everywhere in this castle." He said as he returned to the other. "As for my comment earlier, well, if you took a tally of reasons for why heroes end up dying, I'm pretty sure that jealous women would be the number four killer of all heroes. Number three be receiving an impossible task from an asshole god. Number two would be fighting other heroes, and the number one killer of heroes would have to be politics." Shirou sat back down and staring over at the other three. "As heroes, we are symbols more than we are people. Everyone is going to try to use us for their own ends, even if it is by making martyrs out of us. So take my advice, don't trust anyone from the government or the church… or the merchants union… or the wizards either. Especially the wizards."

"…You're a paranoid nutjob." Motoyasu said in disbelief.

"Call me whatever you went, but when you wake up with a knife in your back, remember that I told you so." Shirou said with a shrug.

"Yeah, whatever." Motoyasu said brushing off Shirou's warning. Well, you can't say he didn't try. "So how about you two, what were you doing before you found yourselves here."

"Ah… Actually I was just reading a light novel in the library about the four heroes stuff and then I blacked out and found myself here." Naofumi said awkwardly.

"Huh… how dull." "What do you expect from the Shielder class?" Itsuki and Motoyasu said looking at Naofumi with disappointment. Before the Shield Hero could ask what was the big deal about having a shield they turned to Shirou. "So what about you Mr. Paranoia, did something cause you to kick the bucket?"

Shirou shook his head, his heart sinking as his thought about what he was doing before he was drawn away. "No. I was tucking my little sister to bed for the night… Telling her that everything was going to be alright… That I would always be there for her." Shirou said, his head falling as he spoke. "She told me that even if she died… she was happy that we could spend her last days together as a family."

God, Shirou felt like shit. The knowledge that there was no way he would make it back in time without some kind of time-space shenanigans turning the months he would be forced to stay in this world into just a few hours. Thinking about it, he couldn't even trust that the people of this world really did have a method for sending him back to his old world. In the end, they might just tell him to stand on a magic circle that turns him to ash, after he had solved all their problems. It seemed more likely than their promise being real.

Even without it being activated, Shirou could feel the effects of the Sword of Sloth. It was only stubbornness that allowed him to shrug the draining feeling away.

Even if the King was a liar, he still would need to restore order to this world if he wanted to go home. Zelretch was probably his only sure way of getting back home in one piece, but the old vampire wouldn't do anything that would possibly cause the destruction of a timeline, not even to help a friend or student. Besides, even if he was truly doomed to let down everyone he cared about, it wasn't wrong to help the people of this world.

"…Suddenly being hit by a truck don't seem so bad." Itsuki said sadly, nervously fingering his bowstring. The other two barely even nodded in agreement.

Shirou swallowed hard and stood up. "I'm… going to go get some air. Clear my head a bit." He said before walking out the door, caring his sword with him.

Wasn't like he was capable of putting the thing down.

* * *

"Those meat pies better be the best in this land or I will have cleaning the pantry floors with our tongue, you here me!" The head chef shouted at one of his cooking staff. "We are cooking for the Three Legendary Saint Heroes! Everything has to be perfect!"

"Um… excuse me." Someone behind the chef said, trying to get the man's attention. Several people in the kitchen stopped and were staring at the person who had just entered the room.

"What is it!? Can't you see that we are…!" The chef started to shout, but when he turned around he stopped shout… and breathing. Standing right there in front of him, with his sword in hand, was the Hero of the Sword himself. "H…H…Hero-sama! W…What is it that we can do for you!? If you have a request, regardless what it is, I will see it made for you at once!"

"Ah, no, that alright." Shirou said waving the man down. "I was just wondering if I could barrow part of your kitchen." Shirou said, shocking the old chef. "Cooking is something of a hobby of mine, and I could use something to help me relax… It's been a long day."

"Of course. Whatever it is that you desire, it shall be yours." The man quickly nodded shouting at several of his men to clear a place for the hero and get whatever ingredients he requested. Shirou inspected the floor, meat and vegies placed in front of him, and determined that they were all of acceptable quality. He wasn't about to make anything complex, since spices didn't seem to be in high supply, so he would need to make do with just peppers.

Once satisfied, Shirou grabbed one of the green peppers and a kitchen knife and started to cut away.

*CRACK!*

Searing pain shot through Shirou's entire body, forcing him to let go of the knife as the muscles in his hand started to spasm in protest. The knife skipped along the table top as it was propelled by an invisible force out of Shirou's hand.

"What the hell?" Shirou said as he flexed his hand in confusion.

That was went the message popped up.

 **Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Contact With Unauthorized Weapon**

A Hero can't fight with anything other than the legendary weapon in his possession.

Shirou's eyes went over the message twice, and then his heart seemed to stop beating as he realized the implications.

Shirou could not use anything sort of weapon other than the Legendary Holy Sword. All of the blades that he had stored inside of his Unlimited Blade Works were… unusable. The foundation of Shirou's power was gone.

At that moment, Shirou felt more vulnerable than he had in years. The prospect of killing all of these waves of monsters now seemed like a much more uphill battle for him.

But as he felt himself starting to go into a panic, another window appeared.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Basic Kitchen Knife (0/1) – Quality: Low Quality– Base Power: .1 – Equip Bonus: +1 cooking (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Shirou blinked in confusion before looking to the help menu.

 **Weapon Copy**

The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements.

 **Equip Bonus**

Equip Bonus refers to the special abilities conferred by equipping different weapons.

For example, when a weapon with the Equip Bonus "Air Strike Bash" is equipped, the skill "Air Strike Bash" can be used.

Likewise, a weapon with the Equip Bonus "Attack +3" will have three points added onto its attack score.

Equip Bonuses start unmastered, but by using the weapon it can unlock mastery, giving the hero the Equip Bonus even when the weapon is not equip.

Shirou blinked before going to his weapon select menu and selecting the Basic Kitchen Knife. The Legendary Holy Sword transformed into an exact replica of the knife he had just been holding, only with the small blue stone that had been present in the sword's hilt still present on the knife.

Shirou looked from the knife to the cutting board and then back to the knife.

"Am I really going to use a Divine Construct to cut vegetables?" Shirou said to himself before shrugging and getting back to his cooking. "The girls back home would get a real kick out of this."

[Stuffed Dumplings – Quality : Heavenly]

* * *

Celia sat alone in the library, skimming through some of the old records and committing the general ideas in it to memory. It wasn't like anyone expected her to memorize the entire contents of the books that she read. She was just supposed to have a good idea of what was in the library and be capable of pointing people towards the books on any subject they requested. That was the job of a royal librarian. Right now, Celia's mother was the royal librarian and Celia was the assistant, but she was being raised to someday take her mother's place.

Not that she wanted to.

Honestly, who wanted to spend their entire lives in a stuffy library with a bunch of boring books. Celia wanted to go out into the world, to see things for herself, and to find a nice guy. How as she ever supposed to get married when she was stuck in the library dead after day? So few guys ever visited the library, it was always just old geezers. Her mother kept saying that it was just a phase and that all girls were rebellious when they were eighteen. Celia would argue that it was probably only the unmarried girls. The married maids seemed perfectly content.

Celia just wanted to meet a nice guy.

"Excuse me, Miss." Celia looked up from her book and nearly choked as she saw the man standing before her. Tall, with lightly tanned skin, exotic red and white hair, and golden eyes. The Hero of the Sword, an individual who was considered almost a literal god in her country, was smiling down at her with the softest expression she had ever seen. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, but if you are not so busy, I would like your help with something."

Celia couldn't help herself, looking up at his gentle smile, a bright flush came to her face. "O…of course. Anything that Hero-sama requires. This one lives to serve."

"Thank you. I was hoping that you could teach me the written language of this country." The hero asked her.

"You… want me to teach you how to read?" Celia stammered, an image of the two of them huddled around a book entering her mind, causing her to heat up even further.

"While my summoning has given me the ability to speak your tongue, it doesn't offer any knowledge of the written language. I know that we might not be able to get a good grasp of the language since I will be leaving on my journey tomorrow. Still, I would like to try to learn as much as I can." The Sword Hero explained. "If you would like compensation, I am sure that I can speak to the minister about paying you for your efforts."

"N… no, that's alright. Anything that I can do to help the Hero of the Sword I will do gladly. Anything for the savior of our world." Celia declared, quickly moving to gather paper and ink so that they could get started.

Maybe being the royal librarian wasn't so bad.

* * *

Celia stared in wonder as 'Fugimaru-sama', as he requested not to be called a hero before he had achieved something in this world, worked through reading a page in the book she had given him.

In just three hours he had gained a grasp of the Melromarcian alphabet and was already beginning to read, quickly adapting to the grammar and special cases in common words. His reading speed was still rather low, but the fact that he could read at all was a tribute to just how amazing the heroes really were.

Getting to the bottom of the page, he nodded his approval. "That should be good for now. I just need more practice." He said with confidence as he closed the book.

Celia felt a twinge of worry, not wanting him to leave yet. "Sh…should we start on the magical alphabet then?"

"Magical alphabet?" Fugimaru-sama said in surprise. It seemed like he had never heard of it before.

"Yes, in order to learn magic, one needs to first learn the magical alphabet so that they can decipher the symbols within magic books. As the symbols appear different to everyone who reads the books, you can't just have someone else read it for you. The only way to learn magic is to first learn the magical alphabet." Celia explained quickly. "Oh… though you could also use basic magic through crystal balls. That way is much more expensive, so most can't afford them, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Kingdom would be willing to acquire some for you."

"Hm… is that so." Fugimaru said, scratching his chin in thought. "While I would like to learn the magical alphabet of this world, it will have to wait for another time. Perhaps I will have another chance to rest at the castle after the next Wave and we can look at it then." Celia held her breath, hearing that her Hero-sama was planning to comeback again. "Right now more basic information would be of more use. Is there a map of the country and of the surrounding lands that I could have? If I am to represent this country as a hero, I would like to know a little more about this country and its political relations with its neighbors before I go out."

"Of course, I'll get you a copy of the map right away, and some history books that you can use later to practice your reading." Celia said, scrabbling from her seat and rushing over to the corner of the library where they kept the maps and history books. They had several large maps evaluable, as they were commonly marked up and tossed during war times or when a noble's land was redistributed.

The hero's eyes scanned over the map, taking in the roads and towns. She could see him mouthing the words of the different nations as he struggled to read them. "Thank you. Now, would you mind telling me a little about these nations that board Melromarc, what kind of governments they have and their relationship status with this land?"

"Of course, let's start with Faubley." Celia said, pointing to a country to the north of Melromarc on the map. "Despite its long history of internal strife, it is still the largest and most influence country in the world. This is due to its tendency to marry heroes and the descendants of heroes into the royal family, allowing them to monopolize of the power and knowledge left behind by the heroes after they passed on. Right now Melromarc has a stable relationship with them, as our King is the younger brother of Faubley's current monarch."

"The King married into the royal family of Melromarc?" Fugimaru asked in surprise. "But how could he be "Aultcray Melromarc the 32nd" if he wasn't born to Melromarc?"

"It is tradition in Melromarc for the Queen to choose her husband's name after they get married." Celia explained.

"Does the nation simply accept having a ruler not born to their royal family?" Fugimaru asked her.

"Actually, he's Majesty is only a proxy, it is the Queen who rules in Melromarc."

"Then why was it that the King met us after we were summoned rather than the Queen?"

"With the Waves coming there are a lot of things that need to be done internationally, so the Queen has not been in the Country for a while as she has been busy working with other nations. I'm not entirely sure where she is at the moment. However, as the threat of the Waves was too immediate to wait for her instruction, the King decided to summon the Legendary Heroes without her permission."

"I see…" Fugimaru muttered before signaling Celia to proceed.

"Alright, next would be Zeltbull, the nation to our south west." Celia said, point to the corresponding countries. "It's a nation made up almost merchants and mercenaries and is considered an almost lawless and godless land. There are no nobles, and the country is ruled by a counsel of merchants. Despite this, Melromarc still maintains a mostly friendly relationship with the nation, as their trade is important for the growth of the country. In almost all political matters, Zeltbull is aggressively neutral." The Sword Hero nodded his understanding, inviting the young woman to continue.

"Next there is Shildfrieden and Siltvelt, the countries that are ruled by Demihuman tribes." Celia said, uncomfortably. "It would be best if Fugimaru-sama never visits these countries."

"Demihumans?" Fugimaru repeated, showing his unfamiliarity with the term.

"Does Fugimaru-sama's world not have Demihumans in it?" Celia asked in surprise. "Then it must be a better world for it. Demihumans are a race of people who are part human and part beast, though they are more like monsters than people themselves. You can tell by the way that they age whenever they grow levels, just like a monster."

"Really, monsters and demihumans age as they grow level?" Fugimaru said, sounding a little interested in the idea. "I suppose that Melromarc doesn't have good relations with these countries then."

"No we don't. While we have had peace for the last twenty years, there has been a long history of war between us and Siltvelt going back hundreds of years, and the relationship between our Kingdom and Shildfrieden could best be described as strained. Only our Queen's constant efforts to maintain the peace as to not waste precious human life in war against them has kept things as peaceful as they have been… But maybe now that Melromarc has the backing of the Legendary Heroes, we might end the centuries long stalemate."

"…Perhaps, but dealing with the Waves must take priority. Best not to waste resources that could be used to protect the people from the Waves on settling old rivalries." The Hero of the Sword said before changing the subject. "Now, what other countries are there?"

Celia moved on and continued describing the different countries, the Hero then been to ask questions about the individual territories within Melromarc and what areas were most effect by the previous wave. An hour past and her Hero left, bidding Celia goodnight. He would have a long day tomorrow.

Perhaps she could sneak out and see him off in the morning.

* * *

Shirou closed the door to his private room and let out a sigh. He had gathered quite a bit of information that day, but he would need time to confirm if any of it had any meaning. One thing was for sure, Melromarc was a country with a long history of bad blood when it came to Demihumans.

Shirou didn't buy the claim that Demihumans were monsters for a second. Monsters don't set up nations and practice commerce with their neighbors. Dehumanizing the enemy was common when two peoples war for so long, and Shirou wouldn't say that both sides hadn't probably committed war crimes in the past, but a Hero of Justice did not see race or circumstance. Everyone deserved to be saved. Still, the library girl's racism made Shirou feel more than a little uncomfortable.

…He just realized that she never actually introduced herself and that he had no idea what her name was. That would be awkward later.

Glancing at his status menu, he saw that it was only around midnight, though he hadn't slept in nearly thirty hours. He would need to go to sleep soon, but first he would have to test his magecraft, as well as the Legendary Holy Sword.

Sitting down on his bed, Shirou preformed a simple projection, not using the principles of his tracing magic, in order to shape his prana into a marble in his palm. Then he stopped feeding prana into it and watched.

Back in his old world, the marble would have been erased in an instant, as Gaia would immediately see it as a distortion in its order. However even after a whole minute had passed, the marble remained. "Looks like Gaia has no influence here or is simply not concerned about low level magecraft." Shirou said as he dispelled the marble.

This would be useful.

Next Shirou projected out a Black Key and began to swing it.

Just like with the knife in the kitchen, an electric charge surged through Shirou's body. This time he struggled to hold onto the blade, seeing just how much punishment he would be able to take. Shirou grit his teeth and endured for a whole fifteen seconds before he couldn't take it anymore. The blade broke into fragments of blue light as it left his hand.

"Damn that hurt." Shirou hissed as he awkwardly fell to his knees, his body freezing up.

He then traced another Black Key, leaving it on the table. He waited for a few seconds, but the same pain didn't come. Hesitantly, he began to trace a third Black Key, suspending it in the air above him. The pain came once again, and Shirou let the sword drop down onto his bed. Once he stopped exerting his will over it, the pain disappeared. Perhaps he could do some kind of fire and forget strategy with the blades.

Next was to see if the Legendary Holy Sword could create copies of his copies, or if it would be able to tell that they weren't real. It shouldn't be, after all, Gaia could hardly tell the difference between Shirou's traced blades and the real thing.

Taking one of the Black Keys, Shirou placed it onto of the blue jewel in the center of the hilt and willed the Legendary Holy Sword to copy the blade.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Black Key (0/50) – Quality: Extremely High Quality– Base Power: 38 – Equip Bonus: +18 attack, +9 speed, +20% damage-to-unholy (unmastered) – Unique Ability: [Shadow Binding], [Purge Undead] – Proficiency: (0%) – Level Requirement: 52]

Shirou flinched as he saw the level requirement. Black Keys were handy things, so Shirou had suspected that the requirement might be a little high, but it was higher than he had expected. If this was the requirements for a Black Key…

Shirou projected his fall back weapons, Kanshou and Bakuya, and placed them over the jewel.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Kanshou and Bakuya (0/85) – Quality: Heavenly – Base Power: 143 – Equip Bonus: +38 attack, +39 speed, +24 defense, +21 stamina, +50% damage-to-beasts, [Dual Wielder+++] (unmastered) – Unique Ability: [Attraction], [Splitting Heaven and Earth], [Change Form] – Proficiency: (0%) – Level Requirement: 87]

"…*sigh* Maybe I should start with simpler blades." Shirou said after a long sigh.

He spent the next hour tracing and copying blade after blade into the Legendary Holy Sword from his Unlimited Blade Works. Some of the weapons were low enough quality for him to use at level 1 and offered such equip bonuses as +1 attack or speed. Not much but master a few hundred such blades and the stats add up. It seemed as though if two blades were of similar makes, the Legendary Holy Sword would not store both of them, so the weapons needed to be distinct enough in material or shape. He was glad to find out that dual blades counted as a single form, even if he couldn't have Kanshou and Bakuya. He had a long way to go before he would be wielding any of his Noble Phantasms.

This damned holy sword wasn't making things easy on him.

* * *

 **Skill Unlocked:** [Hundred Swords]

 **Skill Unlocked:** [Hundred Swords] → [Sword Change]

 **Skill Unlocked:** [Hundred Swords] → [Thousand Swords]


	4. Chapter 4

Even though he hadn't gone to sleep until after midnight, Shirou was still the first of the heroes to wake up, and as such he took the time to do a morning workout routine involving a bit of running in place, stretches and lifted some weights that he projected.

As he started his third set of reps for his left hand with the 35-pound dumbbell, he wondered about the plausibility of bludgeoning something with them. This immediately earned him a minor shock from the Legendary Holy Sword. He could practically fell its disapproval. It was like a jealous girlfriend. No, not that. A girlfriend would imply that he was a willing participant in this relationship. It was more like one of those psychotic stalker girls. What were they called again? Yanderes?

That thought was met with a much more painful shock than before, which nearly made Shirou drop the dumbbell on his foot.

His reinforced hearing picked up sounds of movement coming towards his room, so he dismissed the training weights and got up, prepared to face the world.

"Hero of the Sword-sama, the King has requested your presence." A maid said through the door. "You and the other heroes are to eat breakfast in the guest's common room and then come down to the castles front gate to meet your chosen companions."

"Right, chosen companions." Shirou said with a sigh as he stood up from his bed and went for the door. "Let's see the damage."

* * *

It was just about as bad as Shirou expected it to be.

Shirou looked over the group of twelve men and women who they had gathered. Each was dressed in the kind of clothes one sees adventurers wearing in children's television shows, some dressed in the armor of knights. All of it made to look very fancy, though Shirou's expert eye could only look on in disgust at the number of weak points left in the defenses in the name of artistry. Even the room available for enchantments was wasted on things like perspiration guards, self polishing, and making it so that blood doesn't stick. The swords at the men and women's sides were no better, having barely been used by the people holding them and many of them not weighted right for the wielder's size.

Each and every person standing in front of them was likely the second or third son of some noble, or a daughter hoping to catch the eye of a potential hero, each looking to boost their social standing and not knowing much about combat. Shirou didn't doubt that they were picked more for their loyalty to some kind of political group rather than their personal achievements in combat.

Every last one of them was a spy.

"As promised, we have gathered companions to follow you on your journey. They are all eager to make your acquaintance." The King announced waving his hand towards the twelve hopefuls. "Now, future heroes of this country. Choose the one you wish to serve unde…"

"Excuse me, Your Highness." Shirou said, interrupting the king, who stopped and looked down at him with a puzzled expression. "Forgive me, but for personal reasons, I'm afraid I must decline the offers of assistance from these adventurers."

The adventurers themselves staggered slightly from their stern postures at Shirou's declaration. The King himself frowned. "I do not know the personal matters that you speak of. However, as the fate of our entire world rest on the shoulders of you heroes, I cannot in good conscious send you out into the world without assistance."

"Don't tell me your planning on playing this whole thing solo just because of your stupid paranoia." Motoyasu said, giving Shirou an amused look. Shirou nearly spat a curse at the man as the King noticed the word 'paranoia'. If Shirou wasn't careful, the kingdom would realize just how little he trusted it, and that would lead to all kinds of problems for him.

Shirou let out a long sigh as he quickly made a change of plans. "When I said it was because of personal reasons, I only said so because I wanted to avoid any unnecessary insult, but if you insist, I will be blunt. The adventurers you have gathered here are far too weak to be of any use to me. They would only weigh me down."

"What!?" One of the men who was dressed in particularly shiny full body armor shouted in indignation. He was a big guy with a large mustache and seemed to have more of a presence than the others.

He would make a good example.

"I see a demonstration is in order. With His Highness's permission, I would like to fight these three individuals." Shirou said, pointing to three of the 'adventurers' including the armored man, a less armored spearman and a woman with a staff.

"…Very well, if you truly are as skilled as you say, then there should be no problems. However, if you lose, then I expect you to accept their assistance graciously." The King said calmly. He was probably sure that Shirou would not be able to win. According to their weapons, the three he had picked were each level 10 or 11, and their physical strength was roughly 50% higher than that of a normal person their size. Even so, Shirou wouldn't need to use his magecraft in order to handle them.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Shirou said with a confident smirk as he lifted his sword and started to walk forward. "Then let us begin."

The attacks were uncoordinated, since these people were not used to fighting together, making the three on one advantage they had absolutely pointless. The armored man rushed forward with reckless abandon, as if he was used to only fighting creatures that weren't capable of putting up much of a fight. Something that Shirou knew to be true from the history of his weapon. As the large man swung down at Shirou with a two-handed swing, Shirou struck the blade with his pummel, changing its path so it moved straight past him, carried forward by momentum. The man had no defense at all. Shirou struck his outstretched arms hard, causing him to drop his sword and then performed a follow up strike into the man's chest.

If it wasn't for the bluntness of the Legendary Holy Sword's base form, then man would have had his arm chopped off and his stomach cut open.

"Dead." Shirou pronounced as he moved on to the next target.

The spear was no better. He thrust forward at Shirou the moment he was in range of the spear, but he wielded the spear like a grunt who had been trained only how to fight as part of a line. Shirou easily deflected the spear with a free hand, grabbing it below the head and pulling the man forward when he pushed his weigh into the attack. As the spearman stumbled, Shirou thrusted at him, getting the man in his legs and knocking him to the ground.

He stabbed down at the fallen man as he passed, resting the point of his sword over the man's heart. "Dead."

Shirou walked towards the magic user who was still in the process of finishing their spell. Shirou wasn't worried, the amount of magic power they had managed to gather wasn't anything impressive. "Faust Fire Strike!" The woman shouted at the end of her chant. The ball of fire flew from her staff and came for Shirou. Shirou batted it out of the air with his sword, not slowing in his walk as he moved towards the caster. "I… I surrender." The woman said, as she backed away from the Sword Hero.

Shirou stopped his advance and nodded. "I accept your surrender." He said before turning to the King. "Have I made my point understood? Or should I fight the rest of them as well?"

"That is unnecessary. You have already proven yourself." The King said with a nod, and perhaps a smile. "I had known that these adventurers that we had brought before you were not the highest of level, instead choosing individuals we believed to have potential. Our intentions being that they not leave you heroes with no need to fight for themselves, but I didn't expect you to be able the defeat them so effortlessly. You heroes are skilled beyond your levels. I see now that you are not the sort of man who would sit back and allow others to fight your battles for you. As agreed I will not force you to take any of these adventurers with you. However, you will need to find individuals who can fight alongside you yourself. I will provide you with some extra funds to help with the hiring of persons to assist you."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Shirou said with a bow before returning to the other three heroes. The Spear and Bow heroes looked rather annoyed with Shirou while the Shield looked surprised by the whole display. They were probably disappointed that Shirou got away with that stunt without having to show them any of what he could really do.

The Legendary Holy Sword however felt giddy with excitement. Happy that its wielder was able to show off in front of its rivals.

"Would any of the rest of you wish to prove yourself against our chosen adventurers?"The King asked, gesturing towards the group.

"Ah, no thanks." Naofumi said immediately. "Kind of hard to fight when you only have a shield."

The other two seemed to consider it for a moment before shaking their heads. "Nah, I'm more than happy to accept these guys' help. It would be a pain to have to make a party from scratch and we can always change party members later on if it turns out that some people can't keep up." Motoyasu said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Agreed." Itsuki said with a nod of his head.

It seemed like these three didn't feel like it was worth revealing their skills just to not seem weak. Pity, Shirou would have liked to see what they could really do, since if things turned sour, they might become enemies, but it didn't look like he would have much of a chance to outside of the Waves.

They probably thought the same of him.

"Very well then. Adventurers, choose which hero you wish to follow!" The King ordered.

What happened next was bizarre, as the false adventurers all split up to follow their chosen hero. With Shirou out of the running it should have been a simple matter of each having four followers. Instead seven people lined up in front of Motoyasu, while the other five choose Itsuki, leaving Naofumi all alone.

Shirou frowned at the sight of it, expecting foul play. While they claimed that the reason no one wished to be in his party was because the people listing in on the conversations spread the rumors that the Shield Hero was the least knowledgeable about the world and thus the least reliable, Shirou didn't buy it. The King had very clearly not liked the Shield Hero from the very start, even though he was downright polite when compared to Motoyasu and Itsuki. Shirou hadn't been able to figure out what about the Shield Hero had gained him such a treatment. Regardless, Naofumi was left panicking as he tried to convince Motoyasu and Itsuki to give him one of their adventurers, the two other heroes blowing him off.

In the end, a woman from Motoyasu group ended up volunteering to join Naofumi's party. The girl was around twenty, with shoulder length red hair that was tied up in the back and a slim figure. Shirou supposed that she would be considered rather pretty when compared to some of the other girls in the group, but when compared to people like Sakura, Rin, Rider and Saber, Shirou would label her a 6 out of 10.

As she didn't have any weapon on her person at the moment, she was either a spellcaster or had simply left her weapon somewhere else. Either way, she was the person Shirou knew the least about.

If forced to take a guess, Shirou would say that she noticed that Motoyasu's party already had four other girls in it, decreasing her chances of nailing a hero for a husband and decided to go where there was less competition. She was already starting to shamelessly flirt with Naofumi, putting her arms behind her back and pushing out her chest as much as she could. Even so, Naofumi seemed extremely grateful to at least have someone to help him.

Shirou wasn't sure why, he'd already proven that these people were just incompetent spies.

The King called it to a close and distributed funds amongst the heroes. Motoyasu and Itsuki both got 600 silver while Shirou and Naofumi got 800 silver a piece, in order to help with hiring more adventurers.

Shirou had no intention to hire anyone though. He new from experience how mercenaries were, being a mercenary himself. He couldn't trust the castles adventurers, or mercenaries, and anyone else would be too inexperienced to be of any use. Shirou had already decided to go it alone. For now at least.

As Shirou left the castle, he immediately noticed that he was being trailed. The 'Shadows' might have been able to disguise themselves as normal individuals and blend into the crowd, but the Kingdom's specialized spies were still holding weapons, and the concealed daggers told Shirou who, or more precisely, what these people really were. Didn't matter though, he already assumed that he would be followed and had planned accordingly.

His first destination on his journey was the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era. Supposedly, the Legends about the heroes said that he would have to synchronize his weapon with the Hourglass, and that after he did that, he would be teleported to wherever the Wave was once the battle started. Though he would need to resync himself with it after each Wave.

Shirou took the scenic route to get there, making sure that Motoyasu and Itsuki would arrive there before him, but keeping close enough so that he would be able to listen in on their conversations. The two of them seemed to have more in depth knowledge of the world when compared to him and Naofumi, but they were reluctant to share. It was one of the reasons Shirou still suspected that they might be magi even though they acted so ordinary.

Shirou arrived at the tower that housed the Hourglass and stepped inside, pretending to marvel in wonder at the large ornately carved item as the Heroes talked to one of the sisters in charge of the area, asking her to bring them a small amount of the sand from the hourglass. Apparently, it was a very important ingredient for the Legendary Holy Weapons.

Only after they had left did Shirou approach the woman himself. "Excuse me." He said, gaining her attention.

"Ah, Hero of the Sword-sama, how can this one be of serves to your lordship?" The nun asked, bowing deeply towards Shirou in the same manner she had done for the spear and bow.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't might giving me a small bag of the sand from the hourglass. It's important in unlocking the power of the Legendary Holy Sword." Shirou said.

"Of course, give me one moment." The sister said, bowing again and running off to fulfill Shirou's request. She was not gone for long and returned with a small bag of magically charged sand.

"Thank you very much." Shirou said, taking some of the sand from the pouch and putting it onto the jewel in the center of the sword, watching as the jewel sucked everything into it.

 **Requirements met:** [Dragon's Passage Sword (0/10) Unlocked – Quality: Normal – base power: 1 – Unique Ability: [Transport Sword]]

 **Transport Sword:** Teleport yourself and up to 3 + (your level/20) party members to a location you have already visited. Cooldown 1 hour.

Shirou's eyes almost boggled out of his head. Teleportation!

Teleportation was one of those forms of magecraft that pushed up on the boundary of a True Magic. While not impossible, it was powerful stuff, and it had been lost for centuries. It was something that could only be done with either a massive amount of power, such as with a command seal, or by Caster class servants who possessed long forgotten knowledge.

The weapon itself was just as unusable in combat as his base weapon had been, but it was no wonder that Motoyasu and Itsuki had made acquiring it their number one priority.

Shirou put the rest of the sand away in his backpack, incase he had a use for it later. Perhaps he would run into Naofumi and would be able to provide him with some. As the guy didn't seem to know any more about this world than Shirou himself did, it wouldn't be unlikely for him to not find out about the Hourglass's sand.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Hero-sama?" The nun asked him as he put the sand away.

"Actually, yes." Shirou admitted. "Is there a back door out of here?"

* * *

The moment Shirou was out of sight, he dismissed the projected copy of his original clothes, which he had left underneath the bed in his room at the castle. He then projected his black combat gear and a copy of his Holy Shroud. On top of that he projected a wig of long white hair, similar to the one Illya had made him where when he took her to that one anime convention, only this one lacking dog ears. He would have preferred something less attention grabbing, like black, but that would have required him to dye his eyebrows if he wanted it to hold up to scrutiny.

He also changed the Legendary Holy Sword into a pair of iron twin-blades and projected sheaths in order to carry them in. As people would be looking for a man openly carrying a large very odd looking sword, the plain blades that now rested at his belt wouldn't draw any attention.

Shirou left that cathedral a changed man, and no one was the wiser. He managed to ditch his pursuers and was free to do as he pleased. Though as he pleased simply meant shopping for whatever food he would need for his journey and getting on his way.

At the market, he picked up basic foods that would last him a while. They weren't going to be tasty, but Shirou understood when taste had to take a back seat to efficiency, and he managed to get a good two weeks' worth of rations for just 2 silver. Though he also bought a tent incase it rained while he was out on the road for another 30 coppers. Still at this rate he could survive on the 800 silver coins until he was finished with his duties in this world. He had no need for buying weapons or armor, and didn't have any intention of hiring mercenaries… what would he spend him money on?

The answer came to him as he was walking towards the city gate with his partly full backpack. It was barely reaching noon and he only wanted to be half way to the next town before he pitched camp that night, so he wasn't in much of a rush, when he passed by a large tent and saw a man leading out what looked like an oversize purple ostrich like creature cheerfully pulling a cart.

They were called Filolial. Shirou remembered Illya making him get her a giant stuffed toy of one. Illya had always like birds of all kinds. He remembered that she had named the toy Firo, because it had sparked a round of teasing from Rin as to how unimaginative and childish the name was. The two of them had fought for hours over it until Sakura teamed up with Illya to tease Rin into submission. The memory of it weighed heavy on Shirou's heart.

Shirou looked over at the sign next to the tent. Rather than any kind of name for the establishment, the sign merely stated, 'We Sell Monsters'.

This gave Shirou pause. These Filolial seemed to be this world's equivalent of a horse, so it might not have been a bad idea to get one to help him get around the country faster. And if he managed to keep the thing alive until the very end and found a way to bring it home with him, a real Filolial would make a good apology gift for Illya. It would be difficult to find a place to keep it, and keeping Rin front trying to study it, but that would be a worry for later.

"Well hello, Adventurer-san. How may I be of service to you today?" A rather fat man in a trench coat and top hat said as Shirou entered the tent. His appearance didn't seem to fit the cultural setting of the rest of the castle town, but it would take something much weirder than out of place clothes to get Shirou to raise an eyebrow, no matter how shady the man looked.

"I'm not an adventurer, just a traveling mercenary." Shirou said as he glanced around the shop. Adventurers by definition were people who were registered with the Adventurers' Guild, an organization to regulates the work and priorities of the adventurers.

While Shirou hadn't yet dealt with the Guild, he could take a stab as to how things worked. That is to say that money talks and those who can't pay don't get any protection. To join the Adventurers' Guild, Shirou would basically have to swear that he would never work for free.

That wasn't going to happen.

Best to not have his appearance and name connected with the Adventurers' Guild, even if his appearance was currently a lie and he had no obligation to give his real name to anyone. Adventurers were actually told to adventure under fake names, in order to avoid enemies/stalkers in the future.

"I'm looking to buy a Filolial, do you have any?" Shirou asked the man.

"Yessir we do. Would Mercenary-san prefer an adult or an egg? Either way it will be 200 silver coins." Monster Merchant said as he twirled his mustache.

"If it is 200 silver either way, then why would someone want an egg?" Shirou asked the man.

"Well, that would be because Filolial's imprint themselves on whoever is closest to the egg whenever it hatches, so while the Monster Seal that they are branded with will insure obedience, they will be far more loyal and willing to fight for you if you were the one that hatched the egg. That is why most knights, adventurers, and mercenaries like yourself, would choose to hatch the Filolial they plan to have in their parties, rather than buying a full grown one." Monster Merchant explained.

"Really? Are Filolials good in a fight?" Shirou asked.

The man began to laugh. "Are Filolials good in a fight, he asks!? Sir, Filolials are considered to share the position of top of the food chain in the wilds alongside the dragon races. Legends say that the Filolial Queens are a match for even the most powerful of pureblooded dragon. Though no one has seen a Filolial Queen for hundreds of years. So yes, Filolials are very good in a fight. And as they reach maturity by level 20, it doesn't take long for them to become combat ready."

"Interesting. Alright, you've sold me on it. I'll take an egg." Shirou said, trying to maintain his calm as he digested what the fat man had said. Either the guy was bullshitting him, or those birds were a lot more dangerous than he had original thought… now that he was paying more attention, he could sense an abnormally large amount of mana coming from the one in a nearby cage. Around a low E-rank… on the scale used to measure servants… Was that strong or just average for their race? It couldn't have been weak, right? What in the world were these things doing pulling carts!?

The man took Shirou to were he kept the eggs and showed him the Beast Seals that were attached to the eggs themselves. In order to register Shirou with the seal so that he would become the proper owner, the man had to mix Shirou's blood with a little bottle of strange ink and trace over the Seal with it. Shirou bought the bottle of ink once the man was done with it, for another 1 silver. Partly because he was interested in the ink, and partly because he didn't want to leave anything containing his blood with the fat man.

Can't be too careful around a guy who knows subjugation magic.

After he left, he fed the ink into his sword and immediately became glad that he didn't leave it behind.

 **Requirement met:** [Beastmaster's Sword (0/20) Unlocked – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Monster Growth Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

 **Requirement met:** [Slaver's Sword (0/20) Unlocked – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Slave Growth Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

It seemed the magic ink used to bind beasts was also used to bind slaves. Shirou could have probably used Rule Breaker to free himself from the slave contract, but there was always the chance he would have been ordered to kill himself because he could remove it.

On the bright side, he seemed to have gotten something that would increase the effectiveness of raising his new sidekick.

Shirou was given the egg in an incubator like contraption that had magic to protect against damage to the egg from movement. He also had to buy a few bags of seed paste, which would be what he would have to feed the Filolial after it had hatched, until it was old enough to start eating more solid foods. Apparently an adult Filolial was capable of eating just about anything, though their favorite food was said to be the flesh of freshly killed dragons… neat.

With a backpack full of supplies, a monster egg, and a book of history, Shirou left the city gates and headed out into the world.

Time to see just how this leveling thing went.

* * *

 **OP bird is OP. And ******Spoiler Block***** had hundreds of these things. How had he not conquered the world? I guess he just wasn't interested… the creeper.**

 **Stats and Reinforce don't go together. So if Shirou's stats increase by 50% that doesn't change much in the early levels, since his reinforcements bring his strength up to around E rank (10 times normal human strength) (Archer is only D rank so Shirou shouldn't be about E). So level 1 Shirou is roughly level 50 in terms of strength if he reinforces himself to his fullest. (once you include class up bonuses) But once Shirou is a level 50, the reinforcement is only worth 17 or so levels. At level 100, he would be about a level 102. Barely any difference at all. So once the spirit turtle is dealt with and everyone is level 80+ and can preform their own buff magic that does scale with level, the difference is negligible. Especially once you start counting equipment bonuses.**

 **So early on Shirou has a huge advantage over the other heroes, but it falls off late game. (Not that he is aware of the advantage. He is still convinced that the other three are powerful individuals who are just hiding their strength.)**

 **He also can't reinforce/break the Legendary Holy Sword, as he can't properly grasp its existence.**


	5. Chapter 5

"This is getting ridiculous." Shirou grumbled to himself as he narrowly evaded a large black dog, that was nearly the size of a horse, that had pounced at him. In a simple counter attack, Shirou slid the iron katar in his left-hand across its middle. In his previous world, such an attack would have been instantly lethal, but because of the 'defense' that existed in this world, the blade left nothing more than a flesh wound. Reinforcing his right arm, he stabbed into the monster's heart with the steel rapier, pushing through the monster's defense with brut force.

[+222 EXP | Steel Rapier Sword: Mastered: +1 attack, +2 speed]

Shirou immediately changed the weapon in his right hand from a steel rapier to a bronze gladius. Turning around to face the last two hounds of this pack. Seeming to have not noticed out their companions had just been killed, the two changed forward together, jumping at him with their open jaws.

Shirou plunged both his weapons into their mouths, killing them both instantly, their own momentum doing most of the work.

[+222 EXP | +222 EXP | Level Up: Lv. 14]

"Cancel [Dual Wielder]." Shirou said as the battle finished. The blade in his left hand disappeared without any fanfare leaving him with just the bronze gladius.

After mastering the iron twin-blades, Shirou gained the ability [Dual Wielder], allowing him to dual wield any two onehanded swords, rather than just swords that possess a shared identity as dual weapons. He found it useful as he could work towards 'mastering' two forms at the same time. However, using [Dual Wielder] caused him to rather rapidly drawn his 'SP'.

What was SP? Shirou didn't have a clue. It wasn't Od or Mana, and it wasn't Lifeforce. His best guess was that it was somehow spiritrons, the soul material that makes up one's magic circuits and could best be described as 'sort-of-kind-of' existing within the physical world. Though Shirou felt this was unlikely, since if he was being drained of his spiritrons his magic circuits would have likely dissolved and his soul would have probably collapsed on itself. It was entire possible that SP simply didn't have any equivalent within his own world.

However, as he drained his SP to use the abilities of the Legendary Holy Sword, he felt himself tire. Even if it was the kind of tiredness that came from simply over exerting yourself, where you would recover from by just waiting a few minutes to regain your breath, it was a form of exhaustion, which meant that something was being taken from him. He just didn't know what.

Glancing around at the cut-up bodies of the monster dogs that had attacked him, Shirou gave a sigh and began to go around absorbing the corpses into the jewel on the Legendary Holy Sword, which he was starting to just call Jian, a Chinese word meaning sword, since even mentally saying the whole name each time was starting to get exhausting, and because it had violently protested when he called it Yan, short for Yandere.

He had long since realized that 'she' was both conscious and intelligent, even if she only ever communicated with him with the occasional textbox, or minor electrocution. He also realized that she didn't actually want to kill him and as such did the only thing he could do in a relationship like this one; teasing.

"You know you are going to get fat if you keep eating like this." Shirou said as he finished feeding the corpses to Jian. A text window came up in response to his remark.

[Mass stored inside of a legendary weapon has no effect on its weight.]

"Are you sure? My wrists are starting to feel a little tired." Shirou teased. Jian didn't respond to this taunt, instead choosing to show Shirou a little of the items that she had created by converting the monsters. Shirou glanced down the list of item drops.

It was rather disturbing, watching a horse sized dog being slowly pulled into a three-inch-wide hole as if it was being sucked through a drinking straw. Its bones cracking as the thing was pulled into an impossible shape, and its guts being squeezed out of the wounds… it was enough to freak out even Shirou, even after all the shit he had seen while dealing with the Dead Apostles. However, the results of doing so were worth it.

It was weird. He would feed Jian the monster's whole and then the sword would preform some kind of process that removed the monster's life energy from it to be stored away inside of the jewel for future use. The rest of the body would then be dealt with in the same way as a hunter preparing a kill. On the list of items obtained were entries about the monsters' meat and skins, as well as any teeth or bones they had which could be of use. Anything of any value was extracted and stored in some kind of subspace within the sword's jewel. That he pretty much understood. What Shirou didn't understand was where the potions, money, stones, and various other valuables, like tools and clothes, came from. They all certainly hadn't been present on the monster's body. Shirou was absolutely sure that none of those dogs had been wearing a bowler hat.

"Jian, can you move any meat below 'very high' quality into your cooking subroutine?" Shirou asked the sword. The items for meat in the range of 'low' quality to 'high' quality disappeared from the list and a progress bar appeared in the corner of Shirou's vision with a countdown timer. Shirou regretted buying all the food that he had back at the market, as it seemed that Jian had a built-in way of cooking the meat that he gained from monsters.

It was kind of strange, as regardless the quality of the meat, or what part of the animal it came from, the output quality was still the same, but it was edible, and while not great, it was still better than the military style rations he had bought before. Plus, as long as he kept it in the subspace, it wouldn't ever spoil. After that days hunting, he was already sitting on over 4000 pounds of cooked monster meat, enough to feed a thousand men and women for an entire day, and that wasn't even counting the higher quality meats that he was saving for his own use. He had enough food on him to feed a large village for a whole week.

What was strange was that Jian would only absorb monster corpses and other raw materials, like plants, metals and stones, even though other things were stored inside if they were generated from the corpses. So Shirou couldn't store his backpack inside of the subspace, and after Jian ate his map and turned it into a Paper Sword, he wasn't about to test and see what she would do with his history book or the monster egg. She did however willingly store his money. Which was nice, since the large bag of coins had caused him to be attacked by two groups of bandits that day alone.

Not knowing what to do with said bandits, Shirou just feed everything they owned to Jian, gave them a sound thrashing, and then called it a day. Wasn't like he could escort them all the way to town. It wouldn't be safe for them. Not when he was constantly being attacked almost every ten minutes. He had been attacked by four groups of giant centipedes, three packs of dogs, two groups of bandits, a twelve-foot-tall rabbit wielding a giant carrot, and several other smaller encounters. He had only been walking for around eight hours. How could anyone get around in a world where you couldn't go ten minutes on the road without being attacked by something? The incompetent adventurers from the castle would have been ripped to pieces by this point.

Maybe it was just Shirou's own bad luck and this wasn't normal. It would have been the same kind of bizarre luck that had gotten Shirou involved in the Holy Grail War in the first place. The young man took a moment to curse his E rank luck.

Luck, the inherent ability to defy fate, had to be the worst ability in existence to have. It sounds nice until you realize that fate usually means getting up in the morning and have a normal day without anything life threatening happening to you. So while Luck can help you survive disasters where most people would have died, people with unusual amounts of Luck tend to have unusual things happen to them; like say, being sucked into another world and forced to go on an adventure with a sword that acts like an extremely jealous girlfriend.

Naturally, heroes almost always had a considerable amount of Luck. Otherwise they would have likely never gotten themselves into the situations that made them heroes.

Even as he started to continue on his way down the road, Shirou eyes moved farther down the list of item drops, seeing if there was anything that might be usable, as Jian wouldn't try to use the item drops to unlock new forms without him telling her to. If the monster's body parts themselves were used for unlocking, then she would do it whenever she was absorbing the monster, but the random potions and other valuables would go untouched and remain in the drop space.

He spotted a medium remedy potion listed with the drops. He had already used lesser remedy potion on the sword in order to unlock a 'Petit Medicine Sword', which could increase the effectiveness of medicine. Perhaps the medium remedy potion would do the same. "Jian, can you use the medium remedy potion in order to unlock a new sword?"

The medium remedy potion was removed from the list of drop items and another progress bar appeared in Shirou's vision. It looked like it would take 30 minutes for Jian to process the potion into something usable. While copying swords happened instantly, using the random items to unlock sword forms wasn't always instantaneous. Shirou suspected that it was based on the complexity of the item and how far removed it was from the idea of a sword. Monster bones and teeth, as well as raw metals and stones were processed almost instantly, while meats, plants and medicines took a lot more time.

Shirou looked at the clock in his menu in order to figure out when the potion would finish being processed, only to see that it was already almost 8:00. The sun was setting and soon it would be dark out.

Originally, Shirou had planned on just sleeping outside in the forest that night, but after the sheer number of monster attacks he had gone through, that no long seemed like a good option. Perhaps he should just teleport back to town and sleep at an in, then teleport back to where he left off the next morning.

He was about to go back when Jian interrupted him.

[Without clear landmarks, transport to a location is not possible.]

"In other words, I either sleep out here tonight, or I am starting all over tomorrow morning." Shirou said with a sigh. "Well, I guess I should leave the road a little before I set up camp for the night."

Shirou returned Jian to the twin-blades form and sheathed the blades before raising his now free right hand. "Trace on." Angurvadal, the Stream of Anguish, appeared in Shirou's hand, light flowing from it in order to illuminate his path.

Shirou had found that so long as he was not using it in any sort of combat related sense, Jian didn't mind other weapons. Of course what counted as a weapon, and what counted as being used for combat was up to her to decide. A kitchen knife being used to attack vegetables was still attacking something with a weapon and therefore off limits. Even if the blade didn't touch his hand, and he just fired it like a bullet, Jian would still punish him for it. However, using a legendary weapon like a flashlight was perfectly okay.

Of course, Angurvadal was more than a simply light. Within its legend it would glow with fire and begin to sing when enemies were nearby. As such it would be his security during the night. If anything, man or monster, attempted to attack Shirou in the night, Angurvadal would let out a horrible noise and irrupt with light, both blinding and deafening the attacker momentarily. Hopefully Jian wouldn't see the impromptu trip-mine/flash-bang as an attack. But if she did, the mild electric shock she would give him would surely wake him up if he managed to sleep through Angurvadal's activation, as the sound and light from Angurvadal wouldn't affect Shirou the same way it affected anyone attempting to ambush him.

Shirou didn't bother setting up the tent. It didn't seem as if there was going to be any rain that night. He would just sleep on the ground, in a projected sleeping bag… Wait…"Why did I buy a tent again?" Shirou asked himself, scratching his head. If he needed a tent, he could just project one. It was such a novel concept, being able to project items other than weapon and armor, that Shirou had completely forgotten about it. Shrugging his shoulders, he took out the packed tent and just fed it to Jian.

[Requirements met: Tent Sword Unlocked – Equip Bonus: Rest Effectiveness Up (small) (unmastered)]

Shirou couldn't stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He was starting to wonder if there was literally a sword for everything. Maybe he should try feed her a house next.

Shoving Angurvadal into the ground, Shirou projected a sleeping bag and began to lay down for the night.

 **Weapon Copy**

[The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements.]

Jian none-to-subtly demanded to be fed.

Shirou could only groan.

* * *

"What do you mean you can't find him!? Have you checked all of the inns in the city!?" Princess Malty demanded of the Church's Shadows as she sat in her carriage after stealing everything that the Shield Hero owned in the fool's sleep.

"Forgive us Princess, however the Hero of the Sword disappear without a trace just after visiting the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era. We had our best watching him, but he still slipped straight through our fingers." One Shadow reported.

"We have checked every inn in the whole city, but there is not a single trace of the man. He is good, better than we are. As to be expected of a true Legendary Hero." A second Shadow added with something like awe in his voice.

Malty held in a curse. She had had her heart set on having the Hero of the Sword, but now it looked as though she would have to pick another.

Malty was the first Princess of the Kingdom of Melromarc, and she was long used to being able to use her status, intelligence, and beauty to get whatever she wanted. However, there was one thing that those qualities couldn't get her, and it was something that should have been hers by right of birth; the throne.

Even though she was the first Princess, and was adored by her father, her mother hated her and always had. And since her mother was the one who got to decide who was next in line for the throne, the crown was poised to go to her bratty little sister, Melty.

But Malty wasn't about to just give up on her birthright, so she made a deal with the Church of the Three Legendary Heroes. She would convince her father to summon the heroes to their country and help to set up the Shield Hero to be known throughout the land as a villain, and in exchange they would support her to become the next Queen.

Of course, while the Church was the national religion, her mother wasn't the kind of woman who would care about that. She would need more than just the Church if she wanted to get her crown. What she needed was a hero.

Melty was too young and bratty to win the heart of a hero. She didn't have the same kind of experience with controlling men that Malty had. So if Malty managed to get hitched with one of the three heroes that actually mattered, then not even her mother could deny her the throne.

It was going to be the perfect story. She would extend the hand of kindness to the one that everyone believed to be the devil only to be heinously raped by him the moment they were alone. Then she would have run off to cry into the shoulder of the hero of her choosing and they would feel bound by honor to seek out justice for her and to protect her from then on, so long as the Shield Hero still walked free. But now, when she was already half way done with her little play, she finds out that the leading man is nowhere to be found.

Well, it was not like it really mattered. Any of the Heroes would do. But if she was going to be whoring herself off for the crown anyways, she had wished that she could have at least got the best man possible.

The Hero of the Sword hadn't been as unrefined and rude when he had first appeared as the others and had already managed to win her father's approval. He had also shown himself to be a fighter of the highest quality, easily taking down higher-level men even before obtaining the abilities and power associated with being a Legendary Saint Hero. And while the Bow and the Spear both had their charms, the Bow was too childish for her tastes, and if she went with the Spear Hero, then she would be having to constantly defend her claim on him from the various other women he would be trying to charm. Plus, the Hero of the Sword had just been better looking. He had the kind of stoic, regal appearance that was befit a future King and would have looked perfect standing by her side as she sat upon her throne.

Well, maybe it was for the best. The Sword seemed to be much smarter than any of the others were. He would have been much more difficult to control.

"What's done is done. Where is the Spear Hero?"

* * *

Alright, maybe Shirou was too quick to dismiss the Tent Sword.

After sleeping for just 4 hours, he already felt completely energized and ready to go. He actually slept much better than he had his previous night in the castle. Then again, he had half expected for people to try in infiltrate his room at night in order to place subjugation magic on him while he was in the castle, so it wasn't the most restful of places, despite having an actual bed. It really did surprise him that he hadn't been attacked in the night.

Shirou called up his status menu and glanced at the clock in order to check the time, finding it to be around 6:15. The sun would probably be rising soon.

Shirou reached over to his pack and brought back out the history book he had been given from the castle library. He had spent roughly 6 hours the night before struggling to read his history book in the light produced by Angurvadal, while at the same time having one hand extended over Jian at his side, trancing weapon after weapon from his Unlimited Blade Works for her to copy. The Legendary Holy Weapon equivalent of petting your cat.

Multitasking while reading a language you were unfamiliar with. Hard.

Even so, the book had been very enlightening, and Shirou had learned two very important things while reading the book. First was that the Legendary Heroes of old had a damn good editor, as there was not a single mention of a fuck up anywhere to be found.

Shirou knew a lot about mythologies, and he knew perfectly well what Gods and Heroes were really like. They weren't all knowing and benevolent beings who were completely perfect in every way, they did selfish and often times short sighted things, and people usually suffered from them. Even the ones that really were benevolent still made mistakes. So, whenever you find a holy text that doesn't mention any of these kinds of events, that is often because the holy texts had an editor who went through and removed all of the stories that were controversial.

Point was, every mention of the heroes having flaws had been erased from history… or at least it was for three of the four. The Shield Hero was strangely absent from the history book all together, hardly even mentioned as existing in footnotes. Maybe that was just how things were. If the Shield had the same kind of restrictions on it as the Sword, not letting you wield any other weapon, then Shirou could understand it being difficult for the Shield Hero to distinguish themselves without a means to deal blows to their enemies. Maybe that had been the real reason no one had wanted to follow Naofumi. Still won't explain why the King hated him on sight.

The second thing that jumped out at him was that these heroes always seemed to have prior knowledge of the world around them, meaning that they all probably played video games about the world before coming to it. Shirou wondered if any of the previous heroes came from the same timeline as he did. Actually, he hoped that they had. It would mean that time flowed differently between the two worlds.

The oldest mentions of the Legendary Heroes were around 1000 years old, but the game had only existed in Shirou's world for 3 years. So if the heroes were first brought to the world just a few months after the game came out in his world, that would mean that 1000 years here is around equal to about 3 years in his world. This translated into meaning that 3 days in his world was equal to 1000 days in this one, or about 2 years and 8 months.

If he could finish everything within 2 years' time, he could still make it back home in time to see Illya through her operation. Shirou had to believe that it was possible. He would do whatever it took to finish his task within those 2 years.

"Jian, you awake?" Shirou asked the sword.

[Holy Weapons do not require any recharge time for basic use.]

"I see. I was just wondering, you are able to copy any weapon that possesses the quality of being a sword, right?" Shirou said, seeking clarification of the sword's abilities.

 **Weapon Copy**

[The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements.]

"Well then, can you copy this?" Shirou said, tracing a normal iron sword. "Alteration."The sword began to twist in on itself as Shirou added the meaning of being an arrow to the sword's identity. Then he held it next to Jian's jewel for her to try to copy.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Iron Sword Arrow? (0/10) – Quality: Normal→ Low (Degraded Copy) – Base Power: 2 – Proficiency: (0%)]

"Degraded huh." Shirou humbled. It seemed that while Jian had been able to copy the weapon over, the modifications to the sword's idea had caused the final product to be weaker than his trace, resulting in a level down in quality, similar to his own tracing. A degraded copy of a degraded copy. Still, it had worked.

Next was for part two of his master plan, something he had never tried before, making a bow that was a sword.

It took Shirou several tries before he managed alter a bow into a sword without it becoming unusable. Once he had something that he would be able to identify as 'being' a sword but could still be used as a bow, he tried copying it into Jian's own growing arsenal of weapons.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Steel Sword Bow? (0/10) – Quality: Normal → Low (Degraded Copy) – Base Power: 3 – Proficiency: (0%) – Level Requirement: 8]

"Alright, lets see if this works. Activate [Dual Wielder]." Shirou said, equipping the Steel Sword Bow in his left hand and the Iron Sword Arrow in his right. He pulled the arrow back and aimed it at a tree a good hundred feet away before letting the arrow fly.

…The arrow went around four feet away from Shirou before stopping in the air and falling to the ground. Then Shirou received a very painful shock.

 **Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Hero Cannot Discard Legendary Weapon**

Shirou scowled at the popup window. "You could have just told me that before I tried you know." Shirou sighed. "Cancel [Dual Wielder]." He said, letting the arrow disappear and turning the bow back into swords and storing them. Oh well, it wouldn't have been like he could have used a Caladbolg form anyways. He already checked and Caladbolg had a level requirement of 165, and as it seemed that the more levels he grew, the more EXP it took to gain those levels, it would probably be a whole year or more before he would be able to use a Noble Phantasm of that caliber. "I just can't catch a break with you, can I?"

Jian didn't respond to the question. Instead she informed him of something else.

[Incubation time complete. Monster egg is ready to hatch.]

Shirou went to the magic incubator and found that the seal holding it shut was now released and that the egg was starting to crack. He carefully opened up the incubator and held the egg out in front of him, wondering what exactly he was supposed to do. He'd never been involved in hatching eggs before.

Somehow he suspected that a normal hatching didn't go the same way as this though, as all of the sudden the egg shell burst into pieces with a small popping sound, leaving him with a bright red chick in his hands, one roughly twice the size of a normal baby chicken, a piece of the egg's shell balanced on its head. The puffy red creature looked up at him with eyes that were distinctly too large for its small body and gave out the most cheerful 'Gueee!' sound.

The word kawaii, came to mind.

With surprising strength for something with such a small body, the bird jumped from Shirou's hands and landed onto of his wig covered head, immediately grabbing it and rolling around in the fake hair like an energetic puppy. "Hey, stop that." Shirou chuckled as he reached up to try to dislodge the little one from his head, not that the little bird listened. His chuckles turned surprised concern when the bird let out a cry of pain and fell from his hand.

Shirou caught the little bird before it hit the ground and watched as the Filolial twitched in his hands, a magic seal visible on its chest. "What's going on?" Shirou asked no one in particular, but Jian still responded, and a menu filled is vision.

[Monster Slave Seal Controls]

In the menu was a little of actions classified as forbidden and the level of punishment associated with breaking the rules. And on the top of the list was 'disobeying orders'. Shirou quickly disabled the option and the punishment ended, leaving the poor chick in a confused state.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen." Shirou said, trying to comfort the baby bird. Luckily, the little Filolial was quick to bounce back and was again chirping away. "Don't worry, I won't do that again, I promise. I'm not the kind of person that you shock someone for doing something as trivial as wielding a different weapon. *ouch*" Shirou hissed as Jian punished him for his comment. Apparently, she wasn't amused by his comment. "I'm I your slave?"

[A wielder of a Legendary Weapon cannot be subjugated by a slave seal.]

"Good to know, but that isn't what I asked." Shirou said with a sigh. The bird started making noise, trying to get his attention. "You're probably hungry. I'll get you some food." Shirou said getting and getting the seed paste he had brought with him. He projected out a dish for the bird feed and set it down for the young Filolial to eat. The little thing must have been hungry, because it wasted no time in eating it.

[Do you wish to add the Filolial to your party?]

"Yeah, that way he can get some EXP and start to level up. I'm a little curious to see just how the accelerated aging works." Shirou admitted as he pet the bird with one hand. A window opened up in front of his vision.

[Shirou: Lv 14]

[Filolial 1 (female): Lv 1]

"Oh, she's female." Shirou said, correcting his pronouns. "I guess I need to name her." Shirou said, looking down at the bright red creature as it stuffed its face with the seed paste, making a mess of itself. "How about Firo?" Shirou said, just sticking with the name that Illya had used for her stuffed animal. The bird stopped eating for a moment to give a 'Gueee' of approval before returning to its meal. "Firo it is then."

[Firo: Lv 1]

[Some items can help unlock new forms for the Legendary Weapons. Try to give your weapon a sample of everything.]

Shirou looked down to where the fragments of the egg lay and picked on of them up, feeding it to the sword.

Requirements met: [Beastmaster's Sword II (0/30) Unlocked – Base Power: 7 – Equip Bonus: Monster Status Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Requirements met: [Monster Egg Sword (0/25) Unlocked – Base Power: 4 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +2 (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Glancing over the new weapon forms, Shirou was suddenly struck with an idea. He took the projected sleeping bag and tried to feed it to Jian.

[This is not a real object. It cannot be processed.]

"Oh well, guess that was to be expected." Shirou said with a small shrug of the shoulders. While 'traced' weapons were so close to being the real deal that even they themselves didn't realize they were not real, all basic projections were really just packs of prana given shape. He was still mildly disappointed. "Alright, the sun's up now. We should be hitting the road. Come on, Firo." Shirou said, lifting up the Filolial. The bird quickly ran up his arm and preached itself on his head, settling into his wig and giving out a cheerful cry as it claimed its perch.

It was time for another day.

* * *

 **I'm giving Shirou Firo partly to keep her around and partly because I want to give Naofumi Midori (The Trap)**

 **Mostly because I want to have a scene where Motoyasu is trying to save the poor 'girl' from the evil Shield Hero only for Naofumi to flip up the dress to reveal Midori's HUGE penis. (He is said to have a member fit for a King.)**


	6. Chapter 6

The air was filled with the sound of thousands of insect wings and the monstrous wasp-like bugs, each one the size of a large cat swarmed around their nest. According to the people in the nearby village, the nest was damaged during the Wave, and because if it the monsters had started to rampage.

The people were used to having to deal with two or three of the bugs venturing into their lands from time to time, but they were powerless against the hundreds that came and went day after day. This had to stop, and it had to stop now.

The creatures grew even more adjugated as they noticed Shirou's approach. They gathered together more densely as they prepared to attack the intruder.

Regardless their numbers, Shirou wasn't worried. "Alright let's try this again." Shirou said, lifting Jian up high and taking a deep breath. "I am the Bone of my Sword. Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood." Shirou spoke out the opening lines of his mantra as he opened up his magic circuits, pouring out his Od and mixing it with his SP. "[One Hundred Swords]." With Shirou's words, a hundred swords, each identical to Jian's base form appeared in the air around him, each poised to attack.

While it was an impressive sight, there were only one hundred swords. Not nearly enough considering the number of targets. Shirou needed more.

"[One Thousand Swords]." The skill was advanced to the next level. The weapons glowed bright, before each spilt into ten copies. Increasing the fire power tenfold. Still, Shirou was not satisfied. Jian's base form was not strong enough to insure a kill. "[Sword Change]."

The summoned blades shimmered as the standard form of the Legendary Holy Sword was replaced with various other blades that Jian had copied. Increasing the power of each individual sword. The bug army had finished gathering and begun flying straight towards Shirou, prepared to defend their hive to the last man.

"Fire." Shirou said in an almost casual manner.

The thousand blades flew into the swarm of bugs, ripping through them by the dozens, causing bits and pieces to fly out in all directions. The wave of bugs was shredded in an instant, however, it wasn't over yet. The blades continued on into the monster nest, damaging it even further.

Out of the nest came a screech of rage, followed by a loud tearing sounds as something pushed itself out of the middle of the hive. The Queen Bee was roughly the size of a school bus. While it did have wings, its massive body made it impossible for the thing to actually fly. Instead it sort-of bounced along the ground as it tried to rush towards Shirou, perhaps in a mad attempt to avenge its fallen.

Shirou gathered still more of his Od and SP mixture and prepared another attack. "[Air Strike Slash]." The energy solidified into a sharpened blade of air which Shirou then used to slice the giant creature in two.

The battle, if one could call it that, was over in just thirty seconds.

Shirou breathed deeply as he glanced at his status page and saw that he had just depleted 90% of his SP. "Well, at least I am still capable of standing up." He said as he looked around at the mess he made. "I guess I should get to work on cleaning all this up. Leaving corpses lying around might just attract even more trouble."

"Gueee!" Firo chimed in as she started to eat the nearest bug.

"Hey! Stop that! Those might be poisonous! I'll give you cooked food if you need it!"Shirou shouted at Firo, pulling more meat out of Jian's subspace and giving it to the bird. "Honestly, how much are you planning on eating?"

"Gueee?" Firo only tilted her head at Shirou's question before grabbing the meat from him. She had already eaten all the seed paste he had bought for her and all the rations he had bought in town for himself within 2 hours of having hatched, and she was still constantly hungry. She was now working through a fair chunk of the food that Shirou made with Jian's autocook functions.

In her twelve hours of life, she had eaten nearly 1800 pounds of food and grown over six and a half feet. Her original red feathers had turned a mixture of soft pink and white, and her neck had stretched outwards like the older members of her breed. Shirou had heard that monsters grew as their level increased, but he wasn't prepared for just how fast Firo was growing, or how much food it would take to support such a rate of growth.

With that last fight, Firo was now a level 18. Just a few more and a little bit of time for her growth to catch up, and she would be fully matured… It hadn't even been a single day yet.

"That tastes better, now doesn't it?" Shirou said getting a nodded of agreement from the still young Filolial. "Well, if you help me gather the monster bodies together, I can turn them into more meat like that. So, what do you say, you want to help?"

"Guee!" Firo called out before rushing towards the bodies, quickly throwing them together into a pile. Smiling, Shirou got to work himself, absorbing everything he could into Jian's crystal, all the while admiring his work.

As he leveled up, his quantity of Od was steadily increasing. However, he had nothing he could actually use it on. He only was really good with three spells and none of them were of much use to him now.

There wasn't anything that he needed to use Structural Analysis on, because Jian would just tell him the name and properties of any object he looked at without him having to cast a spell himself. He couldn't reinforce a Divine Construct like Jian. The weaknesses in her forms weren't caused by any holes in their existence, but by the nature of the seals. Also, even as he grew levels, his physical body didn't seem to change. However the power of these stats worked, it didn't have any effect on Shirou's muscles at all, and as such it worked entirely separately from Shirou's reinforcements. This meant that the amount Shirou could increase his strength with reinforcement magecraft wasn't increasing as he grew more levels. Then there was Jian constantly shocking him into submission if he tried to make use of his traces.

He realized that while his total magical energy was increasing, he had nothing he could spend that power on. That was when he had the idea to try to use his increased Od to supplement the cost of his [skills].

The abilities offered by mastering Jian's various forms were useful and could take the place of even some of the skills that Shirou had lost because of their partnership, however they were costly. Using [One Hundred Swords] and [Sword Change] in conjunction already nearly cost more SP than Shirou had at the moment. But by mixing his Od in with the SP, he managed to make his limited supply go farther than before, though it was the case that his Od recharged at a much slower rate than his SP did.

What Shirou hadn't expected was that mixing in his Od seemed to have made some of the skills more powerful than before. He couldn't explain why, it just did. His Air Strike Slash became much larger and sharper than before. Where it hardly had any bite to it at all and could best be described as a stunning blow like skill before, after mixing in his Od, it could cut down most of the monsters he had seen with relative ease.

The [One Hundred Swords] series of attacks seemed to be earned by gaining a large number of forms for the Legendary Weapon to use. Unlocking [One Thousand Swords] was probably supposed to be something that took a considerable amount of time. However, Shirou had already copied 3217 different swords from his Unlimited Blade Works into Jian's own archive, and there was another 79 forms from just random junk he found with monsters or from plants or rocks on the side of the road.

It was an effective way to kill a large number of weak enemies in an instant, but it wasn't any use at all against stronger targets. Each blade produced by [One Hundred Swords] only had around a tenth of the power of the original, and just bounced harmlessly off of higher-level monsters. It also cost a high amount of SP, making it not viable for prolonged battles when Shirou might be required to use it more than once.

As Shirou continued to absorb his kills, he heard a large crash behind him and saw [+122 EXP] in the corner of his vision. He turned his head to see Firo effortlessly tossing the remains of one of those large black dog creatures that was as big as she was onto the growing mound of bodies waiting to be absorbed. The thing had basically been snapped in two and there was a large imprint of the Filolial's foot in the monster's side. It had been killed in a single blow.

Shirou could only chuckle nervously at the reminder of Firo's incredible physical strength. Without his reinforcements, she would easily over power him. All of her stats had passed him by, even if he was still 5 levels over her.

These black dog creatures were everywhere throughout area. Shirou had been told by one of the villagers that they came from the Wave. It took a long time for the knights to kill the 'Wave Boss' and apparently, until the Wave Boss is killed, the monsters just keep pouring out. Things probably wouldn't have been as bad as they were if it wasn't for racism causing people to make bad decisions.

You see, when the Wave happened, it opened up over land mainly occupied by Demihumans, and rather than rushing in and dealing with the problem as quickly as possible, the knights decided to sit back and watch for a bit as the Demihuman towns and villages were destroyed. By the time the army actually got involved, things had already grown completely out of hand, and this got worse once night fell. It took twenty whole hours to subjugate the Wave Boss. By that time, tens of thousands of these black dogs had escaped from the distortion and spread throughout the surrounding lands. The Adventurer's Guild was apparently expending all of its personal trying to keep up with the subjugation jobs for them all.

Saber would have been furious with these so-called Defenders of the Kingdom, not just for willing letting their own citizens die, but for actually waiting and letting the enemy get a foot hold before they engaged. One does not wait for the enemy in a war. To do so is the pinnacle of stupidity. Every last one of the knights would have been stripped of their rank and title, forced to help pay for the damages the kingdom sustained because of their foolishness, and publicly whipped, at the very least, if Saber had been in charge. But for some reason, no punishment was dealt out. The Kingdom failed its people, and Shirou's opinion of the country plummeted.

Shirou was glad that the Hourglass would be teleporting him to the danger zone during every Wave. It would mean he could handle things quickly and prevent a repeat of this from ever happening again.

* * *

"I've taken care of the monsters' hive and killed all the ones I found. You shouldn't be seeing them around anymore." Shirou reported to the village head when he returned from purging the monster nest.

"You actually managed to do it?" The man said in awe. "When you left… I mean… we had hoped but there were so many that… Thank you. Thank you." He was starting to break down from relief. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sack of coins. "The other villages and I were trying to gather money in order to commission help from the Adventurers' Guild. Please, take it."

He pushed the noticeably light leather bag into Shirou's hand before he could say anything. Jian informed him that the bag contained exactly 13 silver and 20 copper coins. About the cost of a week's stay at an inn in the capital for a single person. They were planning to commission a group of adventurers with this? "Is this all the money your village could manage to pull together?" Shirou asked the man.

The village head shifted around a bit nervously. "If it is for you, I'm sure I could manage to find something more…"

"That isn't what I meant." Shirou shook his head and held the bag out for the man to take. "Your homes and crops have all been damaged, so you are heading into rough times. You all need this money more than I do. In times like these, a mercenary can find work just about anywhere. I won't starve after doing just one free job."

The village head just dumbly stared at Shirou as the 'mercenary' turned down their money. Shirou ended up having to push the bag back into the man's hands rather forcefully. "You've given us food, medicine, and warm skins, and you risked your life to save us from the monsters. Do you truly want nothing in return?"

"If you want to repay me, do it by helping to get these people get back onto their feet. Maybe I'll comeback a few years down the line after you have had a chance to recover and then you can thank me." Shirou said with a kind smile. He was likely never to return to this village.

"…Thank you, Shirou-sama. You truly are a Saint." The man said, bowing his head to Shirou. Shirou smiled, but he also felt guilty. The materials and help that the man was thanking him for had cost him nothing at all, and he had the resources to do much more for them. The problem was that with the amount he had done, there would already almost certainly be rumors about what he had done. They were already surprised by just how much stuff Shirou had managed to pull out of his backpack. If he did anymore, he would break the suspension of disbelief for them. He had already come back to the village with a full pack after emptying it once, claiming he had filled it with thing he had gathered from the monsters. Perhaps he could just leave some money with them as he left. There was no way they would accept it, but they couldn't return it if he was already gone. "Are you sure there is nothing that we can give you?"

"I suppose a roof for the night would be appreciated. Roads been dangerous at night recently." Shirou said.

"Ah… a room. With the refugees who lost their homes during the Wave, we are rather packed. Most of the beds are taken by the recovering sick and injured, and those that aren't are four or five to a bed, but I am sure we can find someone who would give their room for you." The man said awkwardly. The difficulties of kind men in bad times. They want to help everyone and spread themselves too thin until they had nothing left to give. He didn't openly say so, but Shirou guessed that he had already given up his room to those who needed it more.

"That's not necessary. Just a spot in the barn will do." Shirou assured the man.

"Are… are you sure?" The village head asked him.

"Yes, I'm sure." Shirou said as he reached up and patted Firo on her long neck. Firo cooed affectionately at the attention. That very sketchy man from the capital had been right about Filolial's becoming attached to whoever hatched them. "My friend here had been going through a bit of a growth spurt and needs to eat at all kinds of strange hours. I'll need to be close to her tonight to make sure she doesn't get into trouble during midnight hunts."

"Is that so? I'll admit, she does look a lot bigger than she did when you first came in this morning." The village head said, looking Firo up and down. "You are free to use the barn if that is what you really want, but is there really nothing else you need?"

"Well… can I borrow your kitchen?"

* * *

"So Delicious!" The group of twelve individuals who had been squeezed around the village head's dining room table.

Five of these individuals consisted of the village head himself, his wife, and three kids, the rest appeared to be orphans from the neighing villages who had lost their homes due to the Wave. Of these there were three human children, two boys and a girl, as well as four Demihuman children. A boy who had wings instead of arms and the legs of a bird, and three girls, one with cat ears and a tail, one with gorilla like features, and the last having the ears and tail of a fox. Of these children, the fox girl appeared to be the oldest, at around fifteen. Though Shirou had no way of knowing if this was from natural aging or leveling.

It seems that the villages in the area had all had an agreement before the Wave even happened that if something happened to one of the villages, the others would take in any of the survivors. It was only meant for things like bandit raids or small monster attacks. Things that would only take out one or two villages, afterwards the population of that one village would be absorbed by the other fifteen that were part of the agreement. However, rather than just one or two villages being destroyed, eight of them were, and one backed out of helping its neighbors out of fear of being too overburdened to survive. As a result, the number of refugees in the village was nearly half the size of the village's original population. They couldn't support this many people for long, but they didn't have the heart to turn anyone away. Not yet anyways.

Once starvation comes, the good will might dry up. Shirou could only hope it wouldn't turn to violence and that the governing body of the area will have found a way for the survivors to rebuild.

All twelve of the villagers were digging into the food that Shirou had prepared, quite literally, as there hadn't been enough kitchen wear to go around. Not that the Demihumans seemed to mind doing things a little primal. According to them it was a cultural thing. Since some of the Demihuman subraces lacked dexterous fingers or any fingers at all, there wasn't a negative stigma surrounding eating by shoving their faces in it inside of their own communities.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted in my whole life!" The cat girl said, her tail wagging happily as her eyes seemed to water with tears of joy.

"You're overreacting. It's just grilled meat with a few wild herbs. Nothing special."Shirou chuckled as he cut a piece of his own portion to eat, hoping no one would notice the jewel in the knife he had to use. Perhaps he should have just used his bare hands like this Demihuman children had.

As he brought the food towards his mouth, he saw a small window open up.

[Grilled Monster Meat with Herbs – Quality: Extraordinarily High Quality]

Shirou only rolled his eyes in response. Honestly, it wasn't that good. Not compared to some of the things he, Sakura and Rin had made back in his home world.

Memories of the three of them playfully fighting over the kitchen came to Shirou along with a sense of longing. The mechanical actions of eating slowed down to a halt, as a deep sense of loneliness pressed down on him. It was going to be months, if not years before he saw them again, the people who meant more to him than the world. He was in a room so full of people that it was cramped, yet he felt so completely isolated.

"Shirou-sama, is something the matter? You aren't eating." The fox girl asked Shirou.

"It's nothing. I used to cook like this all the time. Guess it made me feel a little homesick." Shirou said. He lacked the energy to even attempt to fake a smile. He had lost his appetite and just stared blankly down at the food. It all seemed so pointless.

He was just play acting the part of the hero. He hadn't saved these people. The moment he step out of their lives the troubles with food and monsters would return. Sooner or later, food would become scarce, and they villagers and refugees would turn on one and other. He had accomplished nothing.

"Home…" One of the orphan children said sadly, the cheerful expression they had while eating dissolving away in an instant. Hearing it, the other orphans also shifted uncomfortably.

Shirou winced, realizing his mistake. "Sorry. That was insensitive of me. I shouldn't have said anything." Shirou said, the feeling of loneliness being replaced by a feeling of shame, not only about what he had said, but why he had said it.

He had let his guard down and the Sword of Sloth took the opportunity to dig into him. He couldn't allow himself to fall to despair. The only way for him to get home was to keep moving.

The fox girl shook her head. "It's alright. You didn't mean to." She said, trying to force a smile. "If you don't mind me asking, where is Shirou-sama from?"

"I'm from Q'ten Lo in the far East." Shirou lied easily. It had been the story he had decided on. "I grew up in a rice farming village with my father. The man was a retired mercenary, and after he died, I picked up the lifestyle. I'm sure he would be rolling over in his grave if he knew."

"Why's that?" The child asked him confused.

"…Take my advice. No matter what you think of me, never try to become a mercenary. It isn't a good life. My father died with a lot of regrets. And now, I can only hope that I don't end up the same way." Shirou said, glancing around the table. "As a kid, I thought my father was a hero. I only found out later in life just how wrong I was."Shirou got up from the table, though his food was still not yet finished. "I'm going to go and try to get some rest. I need to regain my strength from today's fighting. Please, excuse me."

He took what was left of his meal and left, heading towards barn where Firo was already starting to cry for attention. The bird was more than happy to gulp down all of Shirou's left overs, and cried actual tears of joy while doing so. "I hope you don't expect to eat like this all the time. With the amount you eat I wouldn't have time to be constantly cooking for you." Shirou teased as he lay down in the straw. Firo whined a little, but quickly laid down next to Shirou, pushing herself up against him. He felt like he was being backed in her body heat. "Well, guess I won't be needing any blankets." Shirou said as he pat the Filolial's neck.

He was just about to fall asleep when an increasingly familiar message popped up.

 **Weapon Copy**

The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements.

"Great, I'm living with two bottomless pits."

* * *

 **Some people have stated that they want to see what Shirou will do when he sees the slaves. The answer is simply die of guilt.**

 **He isn't the same naive guy he was at the beginning of the war. He knows that you can't just try to blindly save people without thinking because you might end up causing more harm than good. Freed slaves still have nothing to their names and are at the bottom of society, likely to just end up becoming slaves again.**

 **Same goes for Naofumi's situations. As much as Shirou might feel for the guy and want to help him, openly calling out the King and the Church could end up causing a lot of problems. Problems that they don't have time to deal with and that might spill over into dealing with the Wave, or might even cause a war.**

 **While he is willing to take risks and endanger himself, he won't act quickly out of fear of endangering others.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Guee… Guee…" Firo whined, pushing herself into the sleeping form of Shirou.

"So hot…" Shirou groaned, trying to push her away with one hand, but Firo persisted in pushing up against him until she finally got him up. "What do you want now?"

Shirou pushed himself up out of the hay and turned to face the young Filolial. It took a few moments for Shirou's eyesight to become accustomed to the pale moon light that snuck through the cracks in the woodwork of the barn, but when he did his eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up.

Filo's growth had continued while Shirou had been sleeping and had taken a strange direction. Where before she had been seeming to tend towards the same appearance as all the other Filolials with a long and slender neck and being around six and a half feet tall, now she looked as though she might have been of an entirely different species.

Her appearance was closer to the one she had as a newborn baby chick, looking nearly as wide as tall, only scaled up to being over eight feet tall and six feet wide. She looked as if she weighed around two tons. Her feather had faded to a glossy white, save for a small plum of pink in the center of her chest as well as small specks on her wings. Two extra long feathers extended from over her eyes, like eyebrows, framing her head quite well and making her look adorable… or as adorable as a bird big enough to swallow someone whole could look.

"Firo, what happened to you?" Shirou asked as he pet the bird's now almost invisible neck. Firo only tilted her head and looked at him with a confused expression… Kawaii. In response to Shirou's question, two windows opened up in Shirou's vision; entries from the Monster Book, complete with pictures. One was on Filolials and had a description of their eating and territorial habits, as well as their love of carriages and their rivalries with lesser dragons and griffons. The second was of something that made Shirou nearly choke.

[Filolial Queens/Kings]

There on the top of the page was a picture of another bird that looked almost exactly the same as how Filolial looked now. Shirou skimmed over the page for information. They were the elites of their race, with inherent knowledge of many things, including magic. A full grown Filolial Queen can bend space around them, creating a mist which can neither be entered nor escaped from, simply by flexing their power. This was thought of as their means of marking their territory. There were also a few paragraphs mentioning how the original Filolial Queen had defeated both the Dragon Emperor and the Griffon King, the most powerful members of their respective species, races that are considered to be among the most powerful of Phantasmal Beasts in Shirou's world.

Apparently, Shirou had hit the jackpot. But as Shirou knew all to will, with great power come great hunger. Firo's belly rumbled and the now giant bird started to whine for food and continue to nudge him.

"Alright, I get it, I get it." Shirou said as he pulled out a large quality of the baked strips of meat that he had been using Jian to create on mass. He continued to feed her until she seemed to be satisfied. That single meal had been roughly 200 pounds of meat, enough to feed 50 men for a full day.

He glanced at his stock to see how he was doing for food, but even with the amount Firo ate, his surplus just kept going up. Each of the monster dogs were the size of a horse, if a little on the leaner side of things, and as such had about 500 pounds of useable meat on them, a lot of it being of lower quality, which Shirou fed into Jian's cooking function, as regardless of the quality of meat that went in, the output was always the same.

This meant that as long as Shirou continued to hunt larger monsters, or smaller monsters in large enough numbers, feeding Firo wouldn't be too hard. It wouldn't be like Saber, where he had to actually buy the food. Life would have been easier back then if they could have just gone out into the forest every day and hunted a bear for her to eat.

"Well, since we are already up, how about we hunt a little more." Shirou said as he got up. His menu told him that it was around 6am. "If we work hard, we can pull in enough food for the people in this village to eat for a while." Without preservatives the meat wouldn't last long, no matter how much Shirou got them, but it would at least give them a week where they could focus on rebuilding instead of having to worry about getting more food. The village had inflated due to refugees, so they had 150 mouths to feed. 150 mouths, 4 pounds of food a day per person, for about 7 days, means 4200 pounds of food. So 9 of those monster dogs, or something of similar size, would do be more than enough. And if Shirou brought the bodies back whole, he wouldn't have to answer uncomfortable questions about how he managed to carry so much in his backpack.

As he was getting ready to go, another textbox from Jian popped up.

[Warning: Basic Monster Slave Seal is insufficient in controlling a Filolial Queen]

"Is that so? Well, I hadn't been using the thing anyways." Shirou said, though he did feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of not have a fallback when dealing with something that could take down a dragon. Still, what the Monster Dealer had said about animal imprinting and loyalty seemed to check out. Shirou would just have to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything bad. She was a big eater, which meant he could probably control her with food in he needed to, like training a dog using treats.

[Some items can help unlock new forms for the Legendary Weapons. Try to give your weapon a sample of everything.]

"Great, you are demanding to be fed too, huh?" Shirou said as he looked down on the ground. He picked up one of the pink and white feathers that Firo had shed in the night and fed it to the sword.

Requirements met: [Beastmaster's Sword III (0/40) Unlocked – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Monster Growth Up (medium) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Another form to increase the rate of Firo's stat growth, and her stats were already getting rather scary. How long would it be before she reached Servant levels of strength? In the back of his mind he couldn't help but to imagine Illya riding proudly on Firo's back, commanding her in the same manner she used to command Berserker.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Guee?" Firo tilted her head, having noticed Shirou's worried expression. Cute, large, and powerful. Oh yes, Illya was going to love Firo.

"It's nothing. Let's go."

* * *

It took three trips, since they couldn't carry more than three of those larger monsters at a time, do more to their awkward size and shape rather than their weight. Each time they came back they just left the bodies next to the storage room at the back of the village before going out again to get more.

The hunting was rather hectic though when compared to before. Firo would run in before Shirou even had time to get prepared and would trample the monsters to death before they even had time to fight back. Firo also kept running in front of Shirou and squatting down on the ground in front of him, trying to get him to climb on her back. At first, he did so, but after being thrown off while trying to ride her without any sort of saddle or reigns as she ran at speeds that approached Servant levels, Shirou decided to stop and just try to endure her puppy dog eyes… he only gave in twice more.

How in the world does a bird manage to have a quavering lower lip?

Still, if he could actually find a saddle for her, he might yet finally gain his Rider qualifications.

"That should do it." Shirou said, tossing the massive corpse he had been hauling down onto the ground next to the others. "Now to say our goodbyes and hit the road."

"Gueee…" Shirou glanced over at Firo, who was looking down at the corpses and licking her beak.

"Don't tell me you are hungry again." Shirou said, glancing at his clock to confirm that it was only 8:30. She had just eaten two and a half hours ago, and she was already hungry? Still, Firo nodded her affirmative. "Alright, alright, I'll give you some more food."

This was getting ridiculous. Shirou vaguely wondered if he was over feeding her. He didn't know what the nutritional demands of a Filolial were. Did Filolial Queens even eat the same amount as normal Filolial?

After feeding Firo once again, Shirou started to head into the village, planning on just telling them where he left the monster bodies, give them some instructions on how best to prepare the meat, and getting out before they found the sack of coins that he left with them. But as he got closer he started to hear people shouting.

"You bastard! You absolute bastard! How could you possibly do this!? We promised those children's parents that if anything happened that we would look after them! Do you think Martha would have done this to your little Abby if it had been us dead instead of them!?" A stern looking woman with a stout face was screaming at one of the ranchers at the top of her lungs. It looked as if the entire village had gathered together because of whatever had happened. The adults all had looks of disgust or hatred in their eyes, while the children clung to whoever would have them and were trembling.

"The village is going to be having trouble keeping up with the number of mouths as it is. Those kids will have a better chance with…" The man tried to offer a defense, but the woman wouldn't have it.

"Better chance? Better chance!? Do you actually believe that hogwash!? You sold them out! You bastard!" She shouted and bent down to pick up a rock to throw at the man.

Shirou grabbed the woman's wrist before she could send the rock flying. One rock often turned to many, and he would rather not watch a man get stoned. The woman was so surprised when she saw Shirou there that she dropped the rock she was about to throw. Or maybe she was looking at Firo who was standing right behind Shirou. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?" Shirou asked in an attempt to break the flow of what was about to happen.

"Shirou-sama, I thought… thought you had already left the town." The village head said in surprise, also looking at the very different bird from the one he had saw the night before.

"No, Firo and I were just doing some hunting. Thought I would leave a little extra food here so that you wouldn't have to worry about it while you rebuilt." Shirou replied before asking again for an explanation of what was going on.

"Well… you see." The village head started nervously rubbing his knuckles, glancing from Shirou, to the woman, to the rancher, and then at the crowd around them. He was a good man, but he was far too jumpy. Shirou wished he would just spit it out already. "They… they took the demihuman children. Slave hunters that is."

"Slave hunters?" Shirou repeated in surprise. Since Jian had a Slaver's Sword, Shirou guessed that slavery was a thing in this world, but he hadn't come across it yet. But even if slavery existed, most societies had strict rules about how one became a slave. "Forgive my ignorance, by I thought that slavery was a fate for debtors and criminals, not orphan children."

Slavery usually started out as a means for people who lived with inescapable debt or petty crimes to escape from an endless cycle of poverty and prison and manage to survive and benefit society. And in this state, slavery wasn't even such a bad thing. Slave practices were usually well managed so that no one was abused and slaves could eventually earn their freedom. It was only when some individuals in society become 'undesirables' that things can turn dark, and fast.

"Strictly speaking… yes. Those are the only two ways of becoming a slave, as set by a wise ruler in the past… however…" The man licked his lips as he searched for the words. "Slave labor… tends to be in rather high demand. Higher than the supply. Especially certain more… unique slaves."

"Unique slaves?" Shirou said, dreading the answer.

"Sex slaves." The woman spat. "Kitsunes are considered extremely valuable, especially… the young virgin girls…" Her anger slowly turned to trembling sobs. "How could you? How could you sell those poor children out? How…?"

Shirou's heart sank. His thoughts went back to the young fox girl who had been at dinner the night before. She had been a pretty young thing with golden blond hair, silver eyes, and a gentle face. The memories of Sakura, and what Shinji did to her came to the front of Shirou's mind.

The ranch's shoulders sank even further than before, and he looked at the ground in shame. "They were the new Marque's men, and high levels. They would have burned the village to the ground if they found out we were hiding the children from them… and… the village needed the money… to help with all the extra mouths we have to feed…"

"So the Marque of these lands is supporting black market slavery?" Shirou asked, looking to the village head for confirmation.

"Nearly all the lords in the whole country do, so long as they are demihumans. Our pervious lord… The Duke was an honorable man and would have never took part in such a thing, but he died during the Wave." The village head admitted with shame.

"I see." Shirou said with a nod. "One last question. Which way did they go?"

"Excuse me?" The village head asked in surprise.

"You've all done your duty as citizens in helping the Marque's men, but there are a lot of bandits on the roads these days. It would be a shame if something happened." Shirou said with a sideways smile. "I think I will go and see if they don't need help in delivering their cargo. After all, I am a mercenary. And please don't lynch this poor man. Living with what he did should be punishment enough."

* * *

Without the dense trees and uneven ground, riding Firo bareback became a lot more doable, even if Shirou still had to hold on for dear life. In a straight forward run on the dirt road, Firo was reaching speeds of around 70 mph, comparable to the max speeds of a cheetah, only the bird was able to keep that speed up for mile after mile. So while the Slavers had a two-hour head start, Firo caught up to them in just a few minutes.

There were seven slavers, sitting in an open wagon pulled by a sort of dinosaur like creature that could have been one of those lesser species of dragons. The demihuman children were tied up behind the wagon, their hands bound by chains that pulled them along, forcing them to run in order to try to keep up, least they fall and start to be dragged behind the wagon. There were sixteen children in all, ranging from the ages of ten to fifteen, with three smaller kids who were too weak to keep up tied up in the back of the wagon.

The disgusting thing was, the wagon was large enough to hold everyone if they squeezed together. The men were making the children run for kicks. Laughing if any of them stumbled.

They stopped laughing when Firo arrived. Caught up to the procession before the men knew what was happening and jumped over all of the children and the wagon before delivering a devastating kick to the dino's neck, killing it in an instant and sending it down to the ground with a very satisfying crunching sound.

"What the hell!" One of the slavers shouted. The sentiment was echoed by several of the others.

With Firo no longer moving, Shirou was able to sit up tall on her back and look down at the shocked men in the wagon. "Sorry about that, but you know how much Filolial's hate lizards." Shirou said with a bit of a smirk. As he said this, Firo bent her head down and actually started to tear into the reptile's neck and was beginning to eat it. "You just ate fifteen minutes ago." Shirou said with a sigh before turning back to the slavers, gathering a murderous aura around himself. "Now then… if you release those children into my custody, I will let you walk out of here with your lives. So, what will it be?"

"You… you think you can just barge in here, kill our dragon horse and then threaten us!? Do you know who we are!?" One of the slavers shouted, the largest of them, and the one that had scars running down her face. Probably their leader.

"No, and I honestly don't care." Shirou said, dismounting from Firo's back and skillfully drew his swords. "Release the children, now."

"L… Let's get him boys!" The slaver shouted, drawing his own sword.

The seven slavers were more coordinated than the adventurers had been, and seemed to be a bit stronger and more skilled as well. Not that it made a difference. They would need a hundred years of combat experience before they were ready to fight someone like Shirou.

The slavers surrounded him and tried to force him into turning his back to one of the others. It was a sound plan, but Shirou wouldn't have it. Offense is the best defense. He broke through the formation with ease, breaking the fingers of one of the men with a pummel strike on his hand when he went for a swing and knocking a second down with a hit from the flat of the blade to his face.

They tried to chase after him, but that was a mistake, as they were now coming at him from a single direction and in single file, leaving Shirou to take them down one after another without any trouble at all. Shirou disarmed six of the seven slavers in twenty seconds, leaving them injured, but still very much alive. The last one was unfortunate enough to have walked right behind Firo, who kicked him hard enough to send in flying fifteen feet back into a tree.

"Just make it easier on yourselves and give up." Shirou told them as he stepped on one of the dropped swords, reinforcing his strength until he had enough power to snap the blade underneath his heel.

"You… You demihuman loving bastard. You're a traitor, that's what you are! A traitor to all humans!" The slaver leader shouted at Shirou as he cradled a broken nose. "Well, if you love demihumans so much, then you are really going to love this! Hey kids!" Shirou's heart sank at the look on the man's face. "I order you all to die!"

"No!" Shirou shouted in panic. The children screamed and began to spasm as electricity danced across their bodies, the slave seals starting to 'punish' them until their bodies would collapse. His mind started to try to run through options of what to do. There wasn't enough time to remove the slave seals, not from so many of them.

There was only one option.

As the slaver laughed at the look of horror on Shirou's face, that look disappeared to be replaced with one of resolve. The man didn't even have time to register this face though. Within the span of a single breath, Shirou had crossed the distance between the two of them… and cut off the man's head.

The screams from the children slowed to a stop to be replaced by weak sobs. They were still in horrible pain from the after effects of the magic seals, but they were all still breathing.

"You killed him." A second slaver said in shock. "You… you won't get away with this! You and that village will all pay for what you've done!"

The fool didn't even realize that what he just said had sealed his fate. Shirou took a long, deep breath. "You know, I was going to have let you all live." He said as he started to walk towards the other slavers. "People like you make it so damn hard to be a proper hero."


	8. Chapter 8

"Is it going to hurt?" The twelve-year-old boy who kind of looked like a mole asked as he was pushed forward by two other kids.

"It will hurt less than a splinter." Shirou told him, giving the boy a reassuring smile as he reached for the boy's hand. Taking the large and callus paw, with its long fingers, in his own left hand he picked a particularly thick spot and bright his right hand gently up toward it. "Rule Breaker." Shirou whispered as the smell bit of metal growing out from underneath his own sick lightly pricked the boy's hand.

The mole boy blinked in surprise as it was over and the slave seal on his chest began to disappear. "That didn't hurt at all." He said with a smile, patting at his chest where the mark used to be.

"See, I told you." Shirou chuckled as he glanced over the group of kids. The kids were either watching him in wonder, laying on the ground to recover from their death march, or gathered around Firo, petting the other sized bird, who was enjoying the attention. All of them were pointedly not looking at the bodies of the men that were on the ground around them.

Shirou had tested the 'Body of Steel' method for tracing weapons in order to see how Jian would react to weapons that were physically, spiritual and conceptually part of Shirou's being. He found that so long as he didn't fully manifest the weapon outside of his body, Jian would not punish him. It wasn't useful in combat, as using a blade that is growing out of your arm does horrible damage to your body, but after using Rule Breaker and dismissing it, only the smallest of wounds was left, which was quickly patched up by the natural healing factor that Heroes apparently had in this world.

Still, while Jian didn't punish him for his clever trick, he could still feel her radiating disapproval. He wasn't breaking the rules, but she was still upset with him for his relationships with other weapons.

"You saved us." The Kitsune girl from the village said, bowing to Shirou. The girl was trembling from relief. She had probably known exactly what fate awaited her at the end of this road. "Thank you, Shirou-sama."

Shirou looked at the girl, and his forced smile slowly slide off of his face. "I haven't saved you. Not yet." Shirou said, admitting what he already knew to be the truth. The children all looked at him in puzzlement. "I released you from your slave seals and killed these men, but that isn't the end of it. So long as you remain in these lands, more could come for you. Not only that, there is no way you can go back to the village. If you are caught there again, it wouldn't just mean your slavery, the other villagers would be punished for helping you."

The children fell silent after hearing what Shirou had said. Their relief disappearing as they were told that their troubles weren't over yet. "Then what are we going to do now?"

"We need to find a place where slavers wouldn't follow. I heard that the Duke who used to rule this land was fair towards Demihumans. Do you know any other territories that have nobles that might be sympathetic?" Shirou asked the children. The kids looked at each other. They didn't know about any other territories like that. They seemed sure that they existed, but they didn't know any of them by name, or where to find them. "Alright, looking around in Melromarc trying to find sympathizers is dangerous. What about other countries?"

"Well, my parents were from Siltvelt." A boy with squirrel like features said. "Demihumans don't get kidnapped into slavery in Siltvelt… but it isn't a very nice place."Several other children nodded in agreement having heard similar things from their own parents.

"My mother told me the same. She said that Siltvelt is ruled by the clans, and that if you aren't a part of any clan then the country is unbearable. That's why she left with grandpa when she was young." The Kitsune girl added. Shirou nodded his understanding. He had visited places like that in his own world, where entire cities were owned by a few tight nit family groups, and everyone else lived in poverty with no hope of ever escaping it. Still, the situations must have really been bleak if they were fleeing to a place like Melromarc for asylum. From what Shirou gathered from the children's stories, most of the different races of Demihumans each had their own clans within Siltvelt, and in order to survive you needed to be a part of one. Entering a clan was impossible, not through marriage or adoption. You had to be born into one. A group of orphans in such a place would likely find no sympathy, and humans were treated the same in Siltvelt as the Demihumans were in Melromarc, so Shirou wouldn't be able to escort them freely without changing his disguise again.

Zeltbull was a cut throat place where most of the slavers made their home base. Trying to find refuge there was laughable. Faubley had a very strict immigration policy, violators punished with death, as they didn't wish to share the marvels left behind by past heroes. Q'ten Lo was a possibility for refuge, as while they were elitists, they weren't violently elitist, but the fact that it would take more than a month, going through possibly hostile territory, just to travel all the way there meant that Shirou couldn't escort them there. Not without being teleported away to deal with the Wave half way there. One by one the options were rejected until only one remained.

Shildfrieden.

Shildfrieden was a Demihuman nation, but not so radical as Siltvelt in its views of Humans, though slavery of both Humans and Demihumans was practiced. It was a republic in that curious form where only the rich were allowed to vote but everyone was counted in representation. It was an ideal nation for runaways… save for the high cost of living. Even those who weren't slaves in the literal sense were often worked to death in order to provide for themselves and their families. If Shirou wanted to find the children refuge there, he would have to buy it.

'All problems come with a price tag. The only question was whether or not you are willing to pay it or if you are willing to just suffer through.' Rin had once told him that. At the time Shirou thought that was just her own little quirk, thinking that everything boiled down to money. But when faced with the realities of Illya's illness, Shirou found out that you really did just have to throw money that some problems to make them go away. Millions of dollars from what he had gained in working for the Clock Tower went into funding materials and research to help find a cure, allowing him to achieve far more than he would have been able to himself.

There was little doubt that they would be able to find help in Shildfrieden, for the right price. It just meant he would have to sell a few things in order to make the required money.

"Alright then, we'll have to start heading for Shildfrieden then." Shirou said turning to look at Firo who had stopped playing with the children and seemed to be trying to hug the wagon that the slavers had been using. "I'll glad you like that wagon so much, because you're going to be pulling it for us."

"Guee!" Firo gave a delighted squeal, to which Shirou could only chuckle. He had found it hard to believe that Filolials had truly loved pulling carts when he had first read about it, but it seemed that it really was the case.

"Do any of you kids now anything about harnesses?" Shirou asked, to which three of the children responded by raising their hands. "See what you can do about strapping Firo in. While you do that, I'll hide the bodies. It would be better if anyone trying to find us didn't find them immediately."

"Do you want us to help?" The Kitsune girl asked Shirou.

Shirou shook his head. "No, this isn't a job for children. I killed these men, I will clean it up."

Shirou removed the valuables from each of the bodies before he started to carry them out into the forest, out of sight of the children.

[Some items can help unlock new forms for the Legendary Weapons. Try to give your weapon a sample of everything.]

"You have got to be kidding me." Shirou said as the familiar message appeared before him. His was already a little grossed out from the fact that killing those men had give him EXP, and now his sword was saying that it wanted to eat the corpses.

[A Hero will have enemies, both human and inhuman. There are weapon forms that will help with both types.]

Shirou frowned, thinking about the kind of properties a blade created by absorbing the essence of a human would be. There were many types of Noble Phantasms that specialized in dealing with human targets. Jian was right, he couldn't assume that monsters were the only evil in this world, or even that they would be the most dangerous.

The fact that he didn't immediately dismiss the idea made Shirou worry a little bit about himself. Perhaps he wasn't as much of a third-rate magus as he once hoped. The thought made him depressed.

"…Their already dead anyways, and it's probably better than leaving them for the monsters." Shirou mumbled, as if trying to convince himself that it didn't matter. Like he wasn't about to cross a line that shouldn't be crossed. Shirou glanced and took in a deep breath, before drawing out part of Jian and holding her crystal next to the human body. "Just make it fast."

Requirements met: [Manslayer's Sword (0/20) Unlocked – Base Power: 6 – Equip Bonus: +8% Damage-to-Humanlike, +1% Defense-against-Humanlike, +15% EXP-from-Humanlike (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Shirou grimaced as he read over the sword's stats and hoped that there wouldn't be any reason for him to use such a blade anytime soon. Then he noticed that the human meat had been added to his inventory. "Jian, destroy the human meat. I don't care how unrecognizable it would be after you process it, just… just get rid of it." Shirou hissed to the sword before sighing. He thought back to the other six corpses back at the road with the kids, as well as what was left of the dragon horse corpse. "In for a penny, in for a pound."

* * *

[Manslayer's Sword II (0/30) Unlocked – Base Power: 11 – Equip Bonus: +12% Damage-to-Humanlike, +1% Defense-against-Humanlike, +20% EXP-from-Humanlike (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

[Lesser Dragon Sword (0/20) Unlocked – Base Power: 6 – Equip Bonus: +10% Damage-to-Dragonlike, +1 Defense (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

[Rider's Sword (0/15) Unlocked – Base Power: 3 – Equip Bonus: Riding Skill Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

* * *

Shirou completed his unpleasant task just as the children finished hooking the excited Firo up to the wagon.

The children pilled up into the wagon squeezing in quite comfortably with a lot of space left over. Shirou stacked the chains that they had been bound with in the center of the wagon along with the useful items that he had grabbed off of the men's bodies, and the camping supplies that the men had with them. The chains were made of lead, the swords bronze, and they had iron chainmail on. These were good ingredients to have on hand for any magus.

The children were instructed to put on the shackles if they saw anyone approaching along the road, in order to make it appear as if they were only slaves being transported.

Even weighed down as it was, Firo had no problems pulling the wagon along. Actually, Shirou had to convince the bird to slow down, as to not make the trip too unpleasant for the children, and not cause the wooden wagon to fall to pieces. He would have to reinforce it the next time they rested.

"Thank you again for saving us." The Kitsune girl said to Shirou as they road along the road. She had lay claim to the spot next to Shirou on the wagon. The other children in the back were looking out at their surroundings and doing their best to keep themselves distracted from the harsh reality with any game that came to mind. "I don't think I ever introduced myself to you before. I'm Rita Aselia."

"It's a pleasure, Aselia-chan. I am Shirou Emiya, and you don't have to thank me. I just did what anyone would do if they were in my situation." Shirou said simply.

"If that is so, then why did you have to do it alone?" Rita asked in a quiet voice, her eyes were downcast and she was fiddling with her nails. "Where were the others from the village?"

"My situation is different than there's. I have strength and nothing to lose." Shirou explained. "It is remarkably easy to play hero when you have nothing to lose."

"Is that so." Rita said, though it didn't seem like she was really absorbing it. The night before the girl had been forcibly optimistic, now she was in shock.

"You are wondering why that man told the slavers you were there, aren't you?"Shirou guessed. Rita stiffened a little before nodding. "Don't think too badly of him. He seemed like a good man."

"If he was such a good man, then why did he do this to us?" Rita asked. "Why did he treat us like cattle that can be bought and sold?"

"Good men can be made to do horrible things if they believe that it is for a good cause. Entire nations full of perfectly normal people can be coerced into murdering the innocent if they can be made to believe that it would lead to some kind of brighter future." Shirou said his voice full of sympathy. The Nazis hadn't all been psychopaths. They had been normal people who had been led to believe that they could improve the world by committing horrible atrocities. "You might not have realized this, but that village you were in was on the road to ruin. It simple didn't have the resources required to feed everyone. That man willed himself to believe that if he gave you to the slavers, that the money could be used to save the rest of the village, and that you would all have a better chance at survival as slaves. He made himself believe that it was for a good reason, and because of that, a good man was able to do something horribly evil. He didn't hate you, nor did he believe that what he was doing was good, he had just been convinced that he had no choice."

Shirou couldn't judge the man. He himself was no different. When faced with those children dying, he had chosen to bloody his own hands. While some might say that Shirou's actions were justified, the families of those he killed probably would disagree. Killing and justice didn't mixed well.

"…They didn't hate us?" Rita said, sounding hopeful. She must have thought that no one in the village had wanted to save them, rather than them not having the power to.

"No, they didn't. They were all extremely broken up about you being taken away. They were just too afraid to do anything because they didn't want to bring the lord's vengeance down on their own families." Shirou replied with a sad smile. "Like I said, it is easiest to be a hero when you have nothing to lose."

"You make it sound like being a hero is so sad." Rita said looking up at Shirou with a curious expression.

"Some of the greatest heroes in history died wishing they were never born." Shirou admitted, thinking of Saber and Archer. They had been undeniably heroes, but they had had so many regrets that they each had wished to erase their own existences.

"Are you unhappy with your life?" Rita asked Shirou.

"No. I am not." Shirou said, thinking of the people who had give his life meaning beyond an empty string of selfless deeds.

Rita leaned into Shirou's side and placed her head against his arm, startling the young man. "Then being a hero can't be that bad."

* * *

The monstrous bear was brought to the ground a blade bared in the back of its neck.

Shirou let out a deep breath before looking up at the wagon full of children, who were all clapping at his little display. "Alright kids, it's time to make camp for the night." Shirou told them all.

"Okay!" The children shouted as they started to unload from the wagon.

"Some of you are going to need to help set up the tent, the rest of you gather firewood from nearby, I'm going to find some water. Firo, you keep an eye out from trouble until I get back." Shirou said.

"Guee!" Firo said, to show that she understood, before returning to eating the giant bear.

Shirou grabbed the seven waterskins he had taken off the slavers and went off into the forest to find any kind of stream. It didn't take long to find water and after filling up the skins he returned to children to find that they had set up the slaver's tent and gathered the fire wood, but there was a problem.

"Shirou-sama, the slavers didn't have that many blankets with them, and we've already gone through almost all of the food that they had." Rita reported when Shirou got back to the camp. He handed the waterskins to some of the children and they all gathered around eager for a drink. He would need to make enough trip before long. The slavers really hadn't brought enough supplies for everyone. Most likely they had only planned on dropping the slaves of at some nearby town rather than making for the boarder and avoiding settlements like Shirou had been doing.

It seemed like hiding his abilities wasn't to be an option. "Don't worry. I can help with that." He said with a smile as he reached out and grabbed on of the blankets. "Trace on."

He analyzed the blanket and produced ten exact copy of it. The children gasped in amazement at Shirou's little display. "You can use magic?" Rita asked with wide eyes.

"Something like that, though I'm not very good with it." Shirou admitted. Shirou projected a frying pan before reaching for Jian's crystal and removing a large piece of meat from her storage space. "Now let's see if I can't take care of our food situation as well."

* * *

They built six separate fires big enough to cook with and Shirou spent a good long while preparing food for the children and Firo… mostly Firo. Each of the kids ate their fill and were soon asleep with happy expressions on their faces. Shirou chuckled, seeing nearly half of the kids huddled around Firo, using her body as a pillow. The Filolial seemed happy to have so many people cuddled up against it. She was a herd animal after all.

"Aren't you going to go to sleep?" Rita asked him as she sat down beside him in front of one of the dying fire pits.

"No. After all the cooking we did, it wouldn't be surprising to have monsters visiting us. I'll need to keep watch tonight. Tomorrow I'll have a mean of protecting us ready so we can sleep more easily." Shirou said as he gestured to the various metal items he was working with.

"More magic?" Rita asked him.

"Yes. I'm preparing materials that I'll be able to use to create bounded fields. They are like spells that you attach to an area which can be used to enforce rules on that area. They are extremely versatile, if you know how to use them properly, though I only really know how to create a bounded field to keep out aggressors and random mana." Shirou explained.

"It still sounds amazing to me." Rita said, resting her head on her knees. "Shirou-sama, can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Shirou said simply.

"Can you teach me how to fight?" Shirou stopped what he was doing but didn't look up.

"…Explain." Shirou said, hoping that he wasn't about to hear what he thought he was about to hear.

"When my village was being destroyed in the Wave… I… I hide away in a small hole near my house. I was in there for hours, but it felt like an eternity, listening to the sounds of the monsters attacking our village. I could hear people screaming. I was so scared I couldn't move. I listened to them dying all around me. My parents. My brother. My neighbors. Everyone I knew died." Tears were coming to her eyes as she described hell, a hell that Shirou was all too familiar with. She was trembling uncontrollably. "When it was over, those of us orphaned by the Wave were picked up by the leader of a neighboring village. I tried to forget what happened, but I couldn't. I can still hear their screams at night. Then the slavers came, and… and… I couldn't do anything again. I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be stuck powerless and afraid. I don't want to have to stand by and watch others suffer."

Shirou sighed before reaching out and patting the girl on the head. "I understand."He said before beginning his own story. "When I was around eight years old, there was a horrible fire in the city I was in, five hundred lives lost in the blink of an eye and more lives lost to the flames. I can't remember anything that from before that, but what I do remember was trying to escape that fire, listening to all of the people begging for help and ignoring them as I forced everything, I had into just surviving another moment." Rita stopped crying and looked up at Shirou with wide eyes. "I understand how you feel. You want to justify why you were allowed to live when other died, don't you?" The girl nodded.

Shirou wanted to tell her that wasn't how the world worked and that she should just live on and forget those who died, but he knew damn well that wouldn't work. For the sake of her psyche, the girl needed to have the power necessary to never have to live through something like that again.

"Alright, what weapon would you like to learn?" Shirou asked the girl. Her face brightened.

"You'll teach me?" Rita asked him, her fox's tail wagging behind her like a dog's.

"Yes I will, on one condition." Shirou said, holding up one finger. "You have to promise me that you won't live your life alone. Find someone who you can care for and dedicate your life to being there for them. Let yourself be happy for their sake if not your own."

"Yes, I promise." Rita agreed without a second thought.

"Alright then, I suppose now is a good enough time to start. Even if you are wiped out for tomorrow you can still sleep on the wagon." Shirou said was he traced various wooden weapons. "Pick whatever you like, and we will get to work."

* * *

Rita Aselia: Lv 1

Requirements met: [Companion's Sword (0/20) Unlocked – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Companion Grow Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

* * *

 **Shirou's second ally, if I keep her around for a long period of time.**

 **Haven't really decided what kind of weapon Rita should use, but not really worried about it either. Can always fall back on sword or bow, though I am thinking spear and then later magic.**

 **Of course, Shirou's current job won't be as easy as it has been so far, since he needs to find away past border patrol.**

 **Companion Grow and Monster Growth don't stack.**


	9. Chapter 9

Shirou backed up, drawling the monster rabbit's attack before slashing down into its left shoulder, hobbling it. "Rita." Shirou signaled to the girl to make her move.

The Kitsune girl pushed forward, thrusting the enchanted short spear Shirou had made for her into the monster's chest from the side, its blade sinking easily into the monster's side regardless of its defenses. The creature continued to struggle for a few moments longer, refusing to go quietly, but soon the blood drained away and its slumped to the ground dead. Rita pulled the spear head out, stumbling back as she did so, her eyes locked on the dog sized rabbit.

"Good, you hesitated less that time." Shirou said, giving her a little praise.

"I'm still not the one actually fighting them." Rita said in response to his praise, seeming to not think he was being genuine.

"You only started practicing yesterday, expecting to already be fighting monsters is unreasonable. Besides, the most difficult thing to do for a fighter is to overcome that moment of hesitation. You're doing great. You just need more training and a few levels to help with your strength. You've already grown a few. You might be able to draw the bowstring now." Shirou said, giving her a pat on the head.

The Demihuman girl blushed a bright red. Perhaps she was remembering her near disastrous test runs of the various weapons that Shirou had offered her.

If those had been real swords, she would have cut off her own feet. She hadn't had the physical strength to use a bow and her attempts with throwing knives made Shirou wince just remembering them. She didn't have a strong sense of her own body, making wielding any weapon difficult for her. In the end he had given her a spear, simply because it was the weapon she was least likely to hurt herself with while still being capable of delivering a killing blow.

The problem was that the spear, while easy to just pick up and use, was perhaps the hardest to master and an unmastered spearman leaves several holes that can easily be exploited. It was why the spear sometimes had the reputation of being a grunt weapon, wielded by those who simply don't have time to master any sort of style.

It would take time, but as she fought more and gained an understanding of her own momentum, she would be ready for more complex weapon styles than a simple spear thrust. "We'll continue your hand-to-hand and knife training tonight and see if we can't start you with a bow."

"Alright." Rita said with a nod of her head. The other kids congratulated her as they climbed back up into the wagon. As they road along, Shirou noticed that the girl's eyes seemed blurred and wondered if the fighting was exhausting her.

"If you're tired you can just sleep." Shirou told her. Rita shot up and looked over at him, surprised by his suggestion. "Exhaustion is the enemy, one must deal with it when you have the chance if you wish to fight at your fullest."

"No, I'm not tired. I was just looking at my status." Rita said with a shake of her head. "It's really strange. I heard that it was supposed to take entire days of grinding monsters in order to grow a single level, but in just a few hours I have already grown 5."

"Well, we have encountered a few monsters along this road." Shirou admitted, glancing at his own status menu. He hadn't noticed anything odd about her rate of growth.

Emiya Shirou: Lv 26

Firo: Lv 22

Rita Aselia: Lv 6

"Maybe, and I suppose they are stronger than a low-level person like me is supposed to fight against, but it still feels like I am leveling up really fast." Rita said as she went back to staring at her status.

[Wielders of the Legendary Weapons and their allies receive the blessings of the Earth, increasing their rate of growth. This benefit is weakened whenever two or more Heroes are close together, as the ground they stand on has to supply both. Best to keep distance.]

"Is that so." Shirou said as he read the message from Jian. It explained why heroes had to act independently, as they wouldn't receive their bonus EXP if they didn't. He wondered just how much bonus EXP there was, and Jian provided the answer.

[Bonus EXP ≈ +900%]

Shirou raised an eyebrow. 10 times normal growth rates. He did a little bit of an estimate based on the number of monsters he had fought and found that if he hadn't had those bonuses, then he would only be a Lv 8 instead of a Lv 26. Getting 10 days of benefit for just a single day of work, joining a hero's company really was the fast lane to success. Maybe those adventurers back at the castle won't spies after all. Maybe they were just lazy bastards who wanted a spot in Shirou's backpack.

"I'm actually surprised that I'm able to harm these monsters at all. They should be too high of a level for me." She said as she looked down at her spear. "This must be a really incredible weapon."

"That is a copy of a masterwork spear which carries the blessings of a water god, allowing it to cut through monsters and demons that would otherwise be invulnerable to normal steel." Shirou told the girl.

It was a good spear, one that would have left many an Exorcist turning green with envy. Unlike most Noble Phantasms which would only allow their chosen wielders to use their true power, the magic spear was just a blessed item and could be used by anyone, partly because their true wielder had been a no name freelancer without a single drop of magical abilities. Even the water god had only chosen them because they were the only person nearby at the time when its foe was descending upon it in the god's moment of weakness.

If it had been a sword and Shirou had copied it with Jian at its full power, the level requirement would have been around Lv 70. Shirou had far better weapons, as its penetrating and anti-immortal attributes were too weak to deal with actual immortals or well-armored targets and it was more suited to be dealing with demons than monsters, but the short spear made a good match for the young girl who needed a little extra something to deal with her enemies' unfair defenses.

There was no need to tell Rita that the blade would control the water in the air when it rained and allow her to breath underwater. Though surprises could be left for later.

"Is it really something so amazing?" Rita asked, her eyes wide as she looked at the rather simple spear. The original wielder had been a mercenary after all, a flashy weapon would have only gotten them in trouble. Rita frowned. "But if you have such an amazing weapon, they why are you using those plain swords?"

[PLAIN!]

Jian was outraged at the allegation that she was just a plain weapon. Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Actually, these blades are anything but plain." Shirou said, patting the hilt of the sword in order to calm her down… before he drove in the knife. "They're actually cursed."

*ZAP*

Electricity jumped from the hilt into Shirou's hand, causing him to recoil and hiss. Rita blinked at the bright blue light, her jaw hanging open.

"I'm not able to wield any other weapon, nor can I get rid of these ones. A rather ironic curse to be placed on a collector of weapons like me." Shirou said, smiling at Jian's seething furry.

"Maybe you should go to the church and see if they can remove the curse. It seems dangerous." Rita suggested, earning a snort of laugher out of Shirou and more rage from Jian.

"Something makes me doubt that the church would help me escape this one. But you don't need to worry. She doesn't want me dead, she just gets jealous when she sees me with other weapons." Shirou said after he was finished laughing.

[A Legendary Weapon is not jealous! A Hero needs no other weapon!]

"If you say so. I still think you should get them looked at." Rita said, glaring at the twin-blades at Shirou's belt. If Jian had eyes, she would have been glaring right back.

Shirou just chuckled and kept his eyes on the road. Still, he couldn't help but think that having to hide his weapon's true nature from the kids was inconvenient, as it was stopping him from mastering more of Jian's forms, and spending each night copying different weapons into her own arsenal. It was something that was making Jian increasingly agitated with Shirou as time went on.

Still, a transforming sword was the number one thing people seemed to associate with the Sword Hero, and the Sword Hero helping undesirables flee the country would likely turn Melromarc's aristocratic against him. While he could always change his appearance while running around, it might lead to people trying to arrest him during the middle of a Wave. That would be a disaster and a half, especially if the other heroes got involved. Motoyasu and Itsuki seemed to be willing to put up with things for more perks, and Shirou couldn't say anything with certainty about Naofumi. He knew nothing about those three, and without access to his more powerful weaponry, Shirou didn't think he could take on any of them, let alone all of them. And while the three would be hunting Shirou, the Wave would be allowed to grow out of control again.

He wished to truly save these children, to take them to a place where they would be both safe and happy, but for the sake of fighting the Waves unimpeded, he couldn't let his identity be leaked while he was doing so. After he left them in the hands of whatever individual he could convince to take care of them, would they keep quite if they knew who he was? From his memories of Archer's life, Shirou knew all too well how quickly people forgot about the person who helped them after they move on.

Why was he even bothering? Even if he got these children across the border, did he really think that their lives would change? The moment he was gone, whoever he put in charge of them would probably throw them aside, pocketing the money meant to help them. The world will still be a miserable place. Shirou had better things to do than trying to save a few orphaned children.

'No! It isn't wrong to want to help people!' Shirou shouted in his own mind, his fingers tightening on the grip on the reigns. 'I won't turn my back on people suffering right in front of me.'

This time, the Sword of Sloth spoke in Shirou's mind, using Archer's voice. 'That's hell you're walking into.'

'I. Don't. Care.'

* * *

"There. That should do it." Shirou said as he finished incasing the metal runes he had created into the ground in order to form a magic square. He projected six copies of the Azoth Sword Rin had once given him. The crystal blades all hummed with magical energy that closely resembled Rin's, making them much more useful for Shirou when activating a runecraft formula than his own Od. After embedding them at keep points in the magic square before speaking the key word to activate them. "Läßt."

The large rubies in the blades' pummels all glowed and their energy traveled into the formula, powering it up. Shirou could immediately feel the change in the air around him as the Bounded Field fell into place.

"Alright, it's working." Shirou said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Until the power in those blades is drained, we should be safe from any creature with hostile intentions, within reason."

"Within reason?" Rita asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"I don't think it would more than slow down a dragon or anything of that nature, but all the monsters we have so far along the road wouldn't be able to penetrate it." Shirou explained. "It will also warn me if anything tries, preventing an ambush."

"If it's so powerful, then why not put it on the wagon?" Rita asked as she looked at the assortment of complex symbols.

"Doesn't work that way. Bounded Fields by nature can't be attached to movable objects. The only exceptions being objects that contain their own realities." Shirou said.

"Such things exist?" Rita seemed skeptical of Shirou's words.

"I've only seen two, but they aren't the kinds of things one forgets easily." Shirou said, he could help but to have a knowing grin. He himself was one such object. The Reality Marble contained within his soul was, in essence, a portable bounded field. The possibilities opened up by a portable bounded field was one of the main reasons that Magi went foaming at the mouth whenever they started to suspect Shirou of having a Reality Marble. Shirou found it strange how they could barely glance as Medusa, a heroic spirit, walked around in front of them, but his oddness sent them into a rage.

"…Sensei sure has seen a lot of strange things." Rita deadpanned.

"You don't know the half of it." Shirou agreed before quirking an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, it is time to resume your training." Shirou traced a wooden knife and handed it to her.

"Right." Rita said, taking the weapon and adopting the knife fighter stance that he had shown her the night before.

"Keep your free hand out of the way, you don't want to be cutting it off yourself. And your legs need to be shoulder width apart, otherwise it is too easily to knock you over."Shirou pushed on her shoulder and the girl wobbled slightly before regaining her balance.

After fixing her balance issues, Shirou walked her through some steps on how to maneuver around without giving up her strong footing. Then they switched weapons to a long sword and practiced the same, then with a spear, and then an ax. Shirou was trying to get her used to simply moving around as much as possible, all the while explaining the various strengths and weaknesses of each weapon and stance. Familiarity with all kinds of weapons and fighting styles would be handy for her, even if she wasn't choosing to pursue those weapons.

After two hours, Rita collapsed to the ground with sore legs. "Sensei, I don't know if I can do this anymore." Rita whimpered as she rubbed at her tired legs.

"That's fine, we can stop that kind of work for tonight. But remember, mobility is one of the most important aspects of combat. If you can't keep your footing while moving…"

"…You'll just get knocked over. I know." Rita said bitterly.

"You're doing better than you know." Shirou told her, grinning down at her pouting expression. "Now, if you are too tired to keep dancing around, perhaps you would like to give the bow another try?"

Before she hadn't had the physical strength needed to properly use a bow, but over the course of that day she had grown 8 levels, and her strength had increased quite a bit because of it. A gap in strength that would have taken months to close in his old world had been done in a single day of 'leveling'.

"Alright." Rita mumbled, pushing herself up on unsteady feet before regaining her balance and following Shirou. Shirou projected a bow and a few arrows, handing them over to the girl. "Um… sensei, this doesn't seem like the normal practice set." Rita commented as she took the bow and quiver. The recurved bow was made of Yew, but the wood had turned bright green through alchemic processes and Celtic runes had been edged into its surface. The arrows were also strange, the metal arrowheads having an odd discoloration, being a mixture of orange and blade, with starch white shafts.

"They are just a few enchanted items. Just a little something to make the drawling of the bow easier and stop the bow from weakening if left strung. Now let's get you into position." Shirou said, dismissing her questions about the weapon for now. No need to tell her about Robin Hood's Yew Bow, or the arrows which had come from an Indian Hero who had been suspected of being an Avatar of Durga, whose arrows would fly true regardless of the winds and could piece through any evil.

Rita would lack the ability to activate their more exotic functions as Noble Phantasms, but the passive effects would be helpful for her getting started, and they were weapons of the highest quality.

Once Shirou had corrected the girl's form and given her the okay, she notched an arrow, took aim at a log and let it fly.

She missed of course. Doesn't matter how straight the arrow flies if the aim was off to begin with, but that was to be expected. The arrow it a tree behind the target and became logged inside. Still, the girl was determined and continued at it until her arms ached as well as her legs. Shirou decided to call it a night. She was still far from perfect, but towards the end she was consistently hitting somewhere on her target at 12 meters. It was better than Shirou expected.

Actually, she was improving in all aspects of fighter faster than Shirou expected. This kind of thing was supposed to take weeks, not hours. "You're improving quickly." Shirou complemented her.

"You're just saying that." Rita replied with a sigh.

"No, I'm not. I wasn't expecting you to be this good for at least another week."Shirou assured her with a smile.

"…Does that mean you'll let me have my own knife now?" Rita asked hopefully.

"No. But you can keep the bow." Shirou said flatly. He still wasn't confident enough in the girl's balance and technique to give her a weapon that could cause her serious harm if she messed up. Any knife that would allow her to cut through the defense stat of her enemies would be an extreme danger to herself if she tripped at any point.

"You aren't afraid I might accidently shoot you with it?" Rita commented while pouting about how he wouldn't let her wield a real knife or sword yet.

"I'm more than used to having to dodge projectiles. I don't think you would be able to land a killing shot on me if you tried." Shirou admitted.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Rita said with a sigh. Then her stomach grumbled. Her mouth shut tight and she began to blush.

Shirou grinned a bit at the sound. "No need to be embarrassed. Hunger is the enemy, a fighter must eat whenever possible if they expect to maintain their full strength." Shirou chuckled at the young girl's embarrassment. "Don't worry. I'll make you something to eat."

"Guee…?" Firo perked up at the mention of food, looking over at Shirou with her big round eyes. The bird couldn't move, as she was being used as a pillow by half the children in their little company, but she did her best to convey the fact that she would also like a late night snack.

"I'll get something for you too." Shirou assured her before going to prepare them something to eat.

The amount of food these children ate. Well, it was a good thing that Jian let Shirou carry so much with him.

* * *

Requirements met: [Companion's Sword II (0/30) Unlocked – Base Power: 7 – Equip Bonus: Companion's Status Up (small) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

"Did you just take one of the girl's hairs?" Shirou mumbled, willing himself to speak in Japanese so that no one would understand him, as Jian unlocked a new form by absorbing one of Rita's hairs that had clung to Shirou's hand after he had given her a pat on the head.

Well, wasn't like it mattered. So long as Rita didn't notice.

All the children in the camp were finally asleep and Shirou was the last one awake, looking up at the stars and thinking about the world. After getting the Tent Sword, he didn't need as much sleep as everyone else, though with people so close by, he couldn't just start copying swords into Jian again.

Not that Jian agreed with that sentiment.

 **Weapon Copy**

The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements.

"I can't do that. I don't want the kids to realize what you are." Shirou told the sword. He could tell that Jian was not happy about it one bit. But rather than arguing with Shirou, she presented an alternative.

 **Weapon Energy**

The Legendary Weapons can convert the EXP gathered within the weapon (weapon proficiency) into Energy. This energy can be spent to Awaken and Upgrade weapon forms.

"I was planning to save that Energy for when I am going to be using a weapon form I plan on keeping. No sense using it to enhance a form I am just going to be throwing away anyways." Shirou pointed out with a shrug of the shoulder.

 **Weapon Awakening**

The Legendary Weapons can use Energy to Awaken individual forms. Awakened weapons gain large boosts to their equipment bonuses. Weapons can then have more Energy spent on them in order to improve the quality of the weapon up to 5 successful times. Each success resulting in an increase in power of 20%.

"Really? Even the Noble Phantasms I have copied?" Shirou said, his eyes widening in surprise. If enhanced fully, that would mean that the base stats of the weapon would be doubled. Kanshou and Bakuya would become equal to an A-rank Noble Phantasm. If he enhanced a weapon like Caliburn… holy shit.

[Expensive, but possible. The higher the quality of the weapon, the greater the chance of failure.]

As to be expected, but the fact that it was doable was still frightening.

But that would be a topic for later. Right now the more useful bit would be the improvements to the weapon's Equip Bonuses caused by Awakening.

He had already been converting his weapon proficiencies into Energy, so he had plenty in the bank to do a little experimentation. He choose his iron twin-swords as a test dumbie to see what would happen.

[Iron Twin-swords (0/15) Unlocked – Rarity: Very Common – base power: 6 – Equip Bonus: +1 Speed, [Dual Wielder] (mastered)]

[Do you wish to Awaken this form?]

Yes.

[Iron Twin-swords (0/15) Awakened – Rarity: Very Common – base power: 6 – Equip Bonus: +2 Speed, [Dual Wielder+] (mastered)]

[Dual Wielder+] – Wielder can manifest up to four blades at once. Maximum distance between wielder and blade extended. 1 meter → 15 meters. Cost effectiveness increased from [Dual Wielder].

It worked. Both the raw stats and the skill provided by the weapon were improved by the awakening. This could further increase the edge Shirou was receiving from his Equip Bonuses. Shirou decided to experiment some more with it, Awakening his medicine swords, increasing the effectiveness of his medicines and giving them a larger area of effect… however that work. He improved the passive poison resistances he gained for him bug based swords and decreased the cost of [Air Strike Slash].

But it wasn't until he reached the Beastmaster Series that he was truly glad he found this function early.

[Beastmaster's Sword (0/20) Awakened – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Monster Growth Up (medium) (mastered)]

[Beastmaster's Sword II (0/30) Awakened – Base Power: 7 – Equip Bonus: Monster Status Up (medium) (mastered)]

[Beastmaster's Sword III (0/40) Awakened – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Monster Growth Up (large) (mastered)]

Even larger buffs for Firo's growth rate and base stats. The bird's rate of growth was already high enough to keep up with Shirou despite Shirou receiving Equip Bonuses. Now she would be getting even stronger still.

He quickly did the same for the Companion Sword, though he would need to gain mastery in the Companion Sword II before he could do the same there. He would do it that night while the children were all asleep. Getting up, Shirou left the camp, heading towards the sounds of monster dogs howling in the night.

As he left, he felt a smug sense of satisfaction coming from Jian. He had to admit, while she was dragging him down at the moment, with him being unable to use any Noble Phantasms, she promised to be an overwhelming powerhouse in the long run.

[I am the only weapon you will ever need.]

* * *

 **Stat-per-Level buffs too OP.**

 **I'm planning a bit for the plot revolving around taboos involving children of Mixed Blood. Not just between Humans and Demihumans, but between two different races of Demihumans. (Perhaps even more taboo than between Demihuman and Human)**

 **It is implied in canon when Naofumi first goes to see the Slaver that mixed Demihuman bloods are less valuable than pure bloods, and the rabbit demihuman of mixed blood that was there is suffering from a physical defect.**

 **This would actually make sense, since it would be like mating between donkeys and horses. It produces children, but there are repercussions to the animal's health.**

 **Just like with inbreeding, there would become a taboo against it because of the strong possibility for bad results.**

 **It is also implied in canon that children of Heroes (and Pureblooded Dragons) never suffer from such illnesses and can pretty much mate with anything and produce a healthy baby… ANYTHING.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Finally found one." Shirou mumbled to himself as Firo pulled the overladen wagon up to a waterfall, a popup opening in the corning of his vision.

 **[Waypoint Discovered – Arrow Falls]**

Ever since they had started heading into the more mountainous regions near where the boarders of Melromarc, Shildfrieden and Siltvelt met, Shirou had been looking for a waypoint where he would be able to teleport to. It was important for his plan to getting the children across the border.

"Alright everyone. We are going to be setting down now!" Shirou told them all. The kids were perplexed, as it was barely noon, and in the last four days they had traveled together, they had never set up camp before sunset.

"Sensei, shouldn't we be going a little farther today?" Rita asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"No, we are going to be setting up camp here. It's part of my plan for getting everyone across the border safely." Shirou told her as he got off the wagon and started to undo Firo's reigns, so that the Filolial could go and get a drink of water.

"What do you mean?" Rita asked, though she was already getting down as well. Several of the children had dismounted and were going to gather firewood or set up the tents.

"Moving straight across the border in any normal location would be dangerous. It will be guarded from both sides of the border, since the relationship between the nations is so strained. Us trying to force our way across could even spark a larger scale conflict. So, I am planning a different means of getting into Shildfrieden." Shirou explained.

"You… you aren't planning on pushing through the mountains are you!?" Rita yelped in surprise. "There is no way we could go through there. It's Griffin territory! Even if you were strong enough to fight them, it would be too dangerous for us to go through there!"

"That is why I'm going to be going through alone." Shirou said, pulling out Jian and slashing a rune mark onto the ground. "One of the abilities allowed to me by this weapon is the power to teleport myself and four other people with me to any location I have marked like this, though it only works in certain locations." He pointed to the rune he had just made. It was actually just a rune that would glow when he guided mana into it, but Rita didn't need to know that. If he said that he could teleport to any place he had been, then it would beg the question as to why a world traveler like himself couldn't have just teleported them all out in the first place. This way he could claim that he didn't have any marks outside of Melromarc. "I'll leave you all here with enough protections and food to last you until I can get back. Once I make a waypoint on the other side of the mountain, I can teleport everyone across in groups of four. I can only use the ability once every hour, so it would take ten hours to get the whole group across, but it will be safe."

"Safe for us, but what about you, Sensei! There are Griffins in those mountains, and even a few dragons! I know you are strong, but you aren't nearly a high enough level to fight them!" Rita protested.

"I don't have to fight them, just get past them. If anything goes wrong and things look hairy, I will just teleport myself back here and we will find another way around."Shirou assured her. He wasn't exactly relishing the idea of going toe to toe with such monsters either, but this was the safest option he had. He just had to hope that none of the Phantasmal Beasts inside those mountains thought him as worth the bother to attack. It was one of the reasons he wasn't too worried about dealing with the notoriously lazy dragons. Territorial as they might be, they only guarded their territory from things that they saw as their equals or competitors. Humans didn't qualify, at least, not without numbers. It was the Griffins that actually worried him. If he was lucky then he would be able to squeeze past them without incident… but that wasn't how life as a hero usually worked, so he was just hoping that they would be few enough in number for him to overpower them with his reinforcements and Jian.

If not, he would have to teleport out and find another way, just like he said.

"I'll leave tomorrow morning, after a long rest. In the meantime, help me set up the bounded field and we can continue your training. I think it is about time you've started with a real sword." Hoping to distract the girl.

Rita stared at Shirou for a few moments before finally just sighing. "Just be careful. I don't want to lose you too." She said sadly, her eyes falling.

Shirou reached up a hand and patted the girl on the head. "Don't worry. I'm rather obnoxiously hard to kill." Shirou said with a slightly cocky smile.

Rita flushed with embarrassment and swatted Shirou's hand away from her head. "St…stop that! I'm not a kid anymore!" She said indignantly.

"Not a kid anymore, are you? Let them have a sword and suddenly they think…"Shirou started to chuckle before he actually did look at Rita, really look at her, and nearly choked. He suddenly remembered the fact that Demihumans physically grew older as they leveled up, though more gradually than monsters did.

So while Firo's growth had been obvious, as she had gone from a chick to an eight-foot-tall giant in just twelve hours, Rita's growth over the last few days had been just slow enough for Shirou to have not noticed it at all. Though if he actually looked, the fact of her growth was obvious.

When they had met, Rita appeared to be just turning fifteen, was only around five-foot-three and had long golden hair that reached down to her waist. She had been petit with a face that still had a young look about it, even if it had been often filled with sadness.

In the past four days she seemed to have put on two whole years and grown another three inches. Her her body became more curvy as it developed. The village clothes she had worn, which had once been a little loose on her, were now tight around her growing chest. Her face had become more attractive as she had matured and had gained the determined, unyielding expression that Shirou often associated with women.

Shirou kicked himself for not noticing it earlier. Her eating habits changing after she had joined his party should have been enough of a hint.

"Sensei, is something wrong?" Rita asked with a tilt of her hand.

"Hm… Oh, it's nothing. Let's get started setting up that bounded field, okay?" Shirou said, shaking off his shock.

"Sure." Rita nodded before going to get the tools they would need for the process, her chest noticeably bouncing as she jogged to get them.

The girl had really just aged two years in a few short days. Shirou started to think about the implications of such a thing. Luckily, she had been fifteen instead of something younger, like ten. Else she would have suddenly just jumped through all of puberty in one go and have had to deal with the sudden onslaught of hormones all at once. She would have been having her first period and as the only adult around, Shirou would have had to deal with that talk.

Thank goodness he had only added Rita to his party. He'd hate to imagine what would have happened if all of those kids had suddenly gone through puberty in less than a week.

From personal experience dealing with Illya, Shirou knew how influential the physical body was on the mind. How confusing was it going to be for Rita to have suddenly matured two whole years? Or maybe it wouldn't be a big deal at all. It wasn't like she was human. Maybe this was just so natural for Demihumans that they aren't affected by it the same way humans would have been.

Well, on the bright side, she'll be more capable of looking after the other children once Shirou was gone.

[Emiya Shirou: Lv 33]

[Firo: Lv 29]

[Rita Aselia: Lv 21]

She really was growing strong. She didn't even need the special properties of the spear he gave her in order to kill the monsters they were coming across, and she could fight them without Shirou crippling them first. Companion Grow Up (small) and changed her rate of growth from being 3.5% increase per level to 4% increase per level and when it had been changed to Companion Grow Up (medium) it had gone up again to 4.5%. With both medium and large growth, Firo's growth rate was 6% per level, an absolutely insane rate of growth.

Shirou had considered taking more of the children into his party just so that they could gain strength as well, but Jian had talked him, or info dumped him, out of it.

Apparently, the Companion Sword's buffs only effected people who Shirou shared a bond with. While Shirou carried about the other children as people, he hadn't had a heart to heart with any of them like he had with Rita. He didn't value the other children's lives any more than he would any other stranger he ran into, where as Rita had already became someone he felt a connection with, even if he couldn't be completely honest with her.

Also, EXP seemed to be divided among members of the party, so for each individual added, the amount gained per person would decrease. While this wouldn't be a problem if it meant they could fight larger groups, they only ever fought what they came across and any fight Shirou would willingly let them participate in, Shirou didn't need the help.

Better to have 1 powerful level 21 than 19 mediocre level 5s.

Shirou felt a bit of pride, knowing that Rita would be able to take care of the others when they were done settling down in Shildfrieden. All he had to do was get them there.

* * *

Shirou checked through everything, making sure that the children would have enough food to last them until he got back and that the bounded field as running at full power. He'd have about 4 days to make in across the 150 miles of mountainous, monster-filled terrain into Shildfrieden territory. It should only take 10 hours, at most, if things went well. Meaning he would have 3 days to wander aimlessly looking for a landmark or city he could teleport to. It would take another day to ferry everyone across, leaving Shirou with 15 days to find homes for the children before the Wave hit.

"It'll just be you and me this time, Firo." Shirou said, patting the bird on the neck as he checked the harness. He still didn't have any kind of saddle for her, so the ride was probably going to be hell, but it would beat hiking it. He'd just have to hope that the boost the Rider's Sword gave him to his skills would make a big enough difference to let him ride her bareback as she ran around on the side of the mountain for more than a few minutes without being thrown off. "Your speed is going to be our best defense against trouble. You think you can handle it?"

"Guee~!" Firo cheerfully proclaimed, rubbing her head into Shirou's palm.

"Sensei." Rita said from behind Shirou.

Shirou didn't even have to turn around, he already knew exactly what was going on. It's exactly what he would have done if he had even known what Kiritsugu was doing when he went off on his trip. "You aren't coming."

"But Sensei, I might be able to help!" Rita protested, clutching her spear to her chest.

"No. I need you to stay here and watched the other children." Shirou told her.

"But Sensei…!"

"I'm not going to discuss this with you. Travel will be faster and safer if it is just me and Firo." Shirou said sharply, hoping that there was still a bit of child in her, which would back down was meet with such a stern rejection.

Rita went quite for a few moments, long enough for guilt's long nails to start sinking in. But when she finally did speak, it shocked Shirou. "If… if this is because you don't want to have to hold back anymore, then you don't have to worry. I… I already know you are the Hero of the Sword."

Shirou froze before looked over at Rita in shock. Some of the other children who had been listening all gasped and started to whisper to each other. "How… How do you..?"Shirou started, but then noticed the surprise on the girl's own face. Then he realized his mistake. "You didn't know. You just suspected and took a shot in the dark." Shirou said in a sigh. "What gave me away?"

"It… was a lot of small things." Rita admitted, shifting her feet a bit. "You said you were from Q'ten Lo, but Q'ten Lo is a mostly Demihuman country and you don't have the look of someone from there. You also never swore to the Holy Emperor, like people from Q'ten Lo tend to do. You didn't seem to know much about the world at all, yet you were supposed to be a world traveler. Then there was the strange pace that I was leveling, and how you were a lower level than someone who fights as well as you do should be. And there is Firo. She's clearly a Royal Filolial, a God Bird. According to legends, the original Queen Filolial was raised by the original set of Legendary Heroes. And… and the way you talked about heroes… and the things you did. I thought you just had to be a hero."

"Ah, I see." Shirou said. He had thought he was being clever in his disguise and cover story, but this young girl had seen right through him in just five days. Perhaps he wasn't giving her enough credit, his cover story was good enough to fool any casual observer, she was just smart.

Shirou always did seem to end up around the most competent of women.

"Sensei, why did you hide that you were the Sword Hero from us?" Rita asked Shirou, a little more nervous than she had been before. She was still recovering from discovering he was basically a deity in this country's culture.

"…Rita, what is the difference between a hero and a villain?" Shirou asked the girl.

Rita looked surprised but still did her best to answer the question. "Well… a hero is good and a villain is evil." She said, though she looked as though she knew that this wasn't the answer that Shirou was looking for.

"I see, and who decides what is good and what is evil?" Shirou asked her with the smile an adult often gives a child after asking them a difficult question. Rita screwed up her face, not looking puzzled but upset. She seemed to know where this was going. "During the wars between Melromarc and Siltvelt, did Melromarc not have war heroes? Individuals who the people of Melromarc admired and would gather behind, people who were seen as heroes. But those same people would be villains in Siltvelt, people who the good citizens would feel motivated to gather together in order to stand again them? So which were they, heroes or villains?"

"You aren't a villain." Rita said a little forcefully.

"To be the hero to one often means being the villain to another. Someone who has been recognized as a hero can't do anything without drawing a line in the sand. By rescuing you from the slavers, I might have earned the admiration of those who oppose slavery and they might have gathered behind me as a symbol, but those like the Marque who see slavery as part of this nation's livelihood would see me as a dangerous outsider who was trying to undermine their way of life, and an influential one at that." Shirou explained. "Tensions would rise between the two groups. There would probably be conflicts and violent demonstrations that would cost hundreds, if not thousands, of people, both innocent and guilty alike, their lives, and the country's unity would be shaken in a time when it must stand together. All of it because the Hero of the Sword choose to save a few orphan children from greedy men. I told you before that it is easy to be a hero when you have nothing to lose. That includes a reputation. Ironically, I am more free to be a hero as a no name mercenary than I would be as the 'Legendary Holy Hero of the Sword'."

"'It is easy to be a hero when you have nothing to lose'." Rita repeated sadly, looking up at Shirou with eyes that were beginning to fill with tears. "You're going to leave me behind, aren't you?"

"…Rita."

"You're planning to just leave me behind like all the others once we get to Shildfrieden." Rita said accusingly, shaking her head. "I promise that I will find a way to be helpful. I train as hard as I need to, so please don't leave me behind."

Shirou couldn't say anything. He had been planning on leaving her with the other children in Shildfrieden. He had wanted her to be away from all of the fighting if possible. To have a chance at a normal life. The same way that Kiritsugu had for him.

…But that hadn't been what Shirou wanted at all. What he had wanted from his father was guidance, but Kiritsugu provided none at all. In truth, Shirou hadn't known the first think about his adoptive father until after the Grail War. The closest thing that Shirou ever had to a heart to heart with the man was the guilty ramblings he spoke when the two of them were watching fireworks together. Kiritsugu had tried his best to shield Shirou from the ugly truth of what had happened and what the world was. If it hadn't been for pure dumb luck and Avalon's passive healing effects, Shirou's lack of guidance would have gotten him killed several times over before he had ever reached the Grail War.

Shirou wanted Rita to have a chance at a normal life, but was that just his own selfishness? Was he about the make the same mistake that Kiritsugu had? Wouldn't Rita just seek to find justification for her own life the same way Shirou had, with or without his help? Shirou should have understood better than anyone what survivor's guilt could do to a person. "You made me promise that I wouldn't live alone. So please don't force me to go away." Rita begged him.

Shirou dropped Firo's reigns and walked over to Rita, reaching up to pat her on the head, flattening her fox's ears. It was a little more awkward than before, she had grown just another inch or two over the course of the previous night. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"If you really are set on following me, I won't abandon you. Just know that there will be times when you cannot follow me, as much for my safety as your own, and this is one of them." Shirou said as he patted the girl's head.

Rita's lip trembled and she grabbed him in a hug. "Thank you, Sensei." Rita whispered as she let the tears fall. Shirou just stood there, letting her cry it out into his chest until Firo brushed her head into Shirou's shoulder.

"Guee…" Firo prodded him, reminding Shirou that if he wanted to be through the mountains before sundown, then he really did need to get a move on it.

"Hold down the fort until I get back, would you?" Shirou said to Rita.

"Alright Sensei, be careful." Rita said wiping the tears from her eyes and smiling up at him. It was the first real smile he had ever seen her give. It was so genuine and real that he couldn't help but feel uplifted, even as he turned and climbed up onto Firo's back.

"Let's go Firo!" Shirou said, causing the Filolial to give an excited cry and go bolting out of the camp and into the intimidating mountains.

Let's see if Shirou's luck would hold up for once.

* * *

 **Requirements met:** [Companion's Sword III (0/40) Unlocked – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Companion's Growth Up (medium) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

* * *

 **Skill Points – SP**

 **Mana Points – MP**

 **Od Points – OP (seems appropriate.)**

 **Just for that joke I am going to leave MP and Od being different things.**

* * *

 **There seems to be two groups out there, those who love the concept of Jian the Yandere sword who both hobbles and blesses Shirou, and those who absolutely hate it. There is no middle ground. Honestly people, if Shirou actually did somehow get rid of her, that would cause a lot of complications in the story. Stop asking me to do it.**

 **Also, yes Jian is becoming more human like as she interacts with Shirou more, but she is learning human social interaction from Shirou. Meaning that merciless teasing lies in Shirou's future.**

 **He really is a horrible role model.**

* * *

 **In canon, because buffs to their growth, Raph and Firo were both stronger than level 60 adventurers, when they were level 40 (pre-class up) There stats were supposed to be 4 times that of an adventurer of equal level when they were level 75. Which was why everyone was accusing Naofumi of hacking, because his party members were overpowered as hell.**

* * *

 **Someone asked for a better explanation of what the Awakening/Upgrading thing was. So here we go.**

 **\- Awakening has a 100% chance of working and only boosts the Equip Bonuses.**

 **\- Upgrading has only a percent chance of working at each attempt and provides a 20% bonus to the base power of the weapon only and increases the 'Quality' of the weapon. While you can try as many times as you like, you only get 5 successes.**

 **Shirou can also enhance a weapon by spending the energy he gathered from the monster corpses he absorbs.**

 **\- Enhancing can be done any number of times, with each time having a lower chance of success than the previous time, and for each success the weapon gains +15% damage versus *insert enemy type here* (or in the case of the Shield +3% damage reduction from *insert enemy type here*). Based on appearances, it seems that damage calculation is done by ((attack damage * (1+modifiers)) – target defense) So a damage-versus-*blank* increase of 15% does more than just an extra 15% damage.**

 **In canon, enhancement levels could get up to around 15 if people were willing to spend the resources for it. Meaning +225% damage boost.**

 **This is why Ren could kill a pureblooded dragon at level 50ish. He had a sword with ridiculous buffs against dragons. And even then it took him more than an hour and it was the world's weakest pureblooded dragon.**


	11. Chapter 11

"What is wrong with the monsters in this world, prioritizing trying to kill us over their own survival!?" Shirou growled as Firo made another evasive maneuver in order to avoid the lung of yet another Griffin, Shirou thrusting back at it from on top her back with Jian's [Bronze Spear Sword] form which he held in his right hand. Getting the Griffin on the side of the neck and opening up a bloody wound. But even with him reinforcing his strength to the fullest, he couldn't deliver a killing blow, even with such a well-placed hit.

Normal animals would have backed off. Shirou and Firo were too much trouble to count as a good meal, and the way they were running would suggest that they aren't challenging the bird/lion things for their territory. But the damned creatures just kept coming.

 **[WARNING!]** [Griffin: Lv 57]

Jian helpfully informed him.

Shirou spun his head around and lifted his left arm to block the strike of a second Griffin that had been approaching while he had been distracted. Attached to his left arm was a [Steel Blade Shield], a large kite shield that housed a retractable sword inside of it. As the shield hadn't been magically altered in order to contain the idea of a sword, it was not degraded like the rest of Shirou's dual-identity weapons, and the defense boost from it was extremely useful.

But even with the boost in defense, it felt as if he was trying to block a kick from Berserker as the Griffin's talon slammed into the shield, bringing Firo to the ground, with Shirou still on her back. Firo kicked at the Griffin with a blow that Shirou knew could have shattered stone, but barely more than pained the monster than now pinned them to the ground.

'Defense' was as logic breaking as ever. Ignoring simple things like the conservation of mass and energy. If a Servant took such a kick at that kind of an angle, they would be sent flying into the sky, even if their bodies took no damage from the hit.

The Griffin grabbed onto Shirou's shield, pulling it down as it reared its head up in preparation to attack. The [Bronze Spear Sword] in Shirou's right hand changed into the Jian's [Griffin Sword] form, and Shirou swung the blade up just as the Griffin dove down to bite his head off, neatly cutting through the top half of the bird's head.

"Thanks." Shirou said, as a clear glass vial fell from the [Griffin Sword] into his left hand. He quickly popped off the lid with his thumb and drain it down. Tasted like grape juice.

Green light escaped from Shirou's body as his [Medicine Effect Area (3 meters)] came into play, passing the effects of the [Healing Potion] onto Firo, who had shrugged off the Griffin's body and was continuing her run through the forest as the sounds of the Griffin flock/pride echoed around them.

 **Weapon Enhancement**

By using the energy converted from absorbing the lifeforce in the monster's absorbed into the Legendary Weapon, individual weapon forms can be 'Enhance' in order to grant type advantages related to the weapons ideal enemy type.

Jian reminded him that the only reason he was able to cut through them so easily with that sword was because of her timely advice about Weapon Enhancements, and he could feel just how pleased she was with her self for it. Shirou sympathized with swords. Above all else, swords were the one thing he understood, which was why he was easily able to read Jian's emotional state, even if she was unusual for a sword.

Shirou only grunted in response to the sword's smug comment, though he had to admit she was right, the effects of 'Enhancing' the [Griffin Sword], after he unlocked it from absorbing the first Griffin he had killed, were paying off.

[Griffin Sword (0/10) (Awakened) – Rarity: Common – Base Power: 11 – Equip Bonus: +6 attack, +3 speed, +10% damage-to-hybrids (mastered) – Proficiency: (86%) – Enhancement Lv: 6: +90% damage-to-hybrids]

Even with the massive difference in their levels, the +100% damage-to-hybrids allowed Shirou to cut down the Griffins that got too close with his reinforced strength. Without them, Shirou would have probably been forced to turn back already… or died.

Firo moved through the thick trees with surprising speed and grace, barely hampered by the uneven grounds and random clutter. They were making good time, despite the inconveniences. The best defense they had against the Griffins was to keep moving through the trees, not allowing themselves to be too surrounded and making their wings less useful. Shirou hadn't even needed to guide Firo on this type of strategy, the bird seemed to just know it on her own.

Still, their luck, if you could call being chased through the mountainous forest by a swarm of half-bird half-lions lucky, eventually ran out, as they reached the edge of the trees and found themselves running into a clearing with nearly fifty Griffins there waiting for them.

The monsters were as big as Firo, with the upper-halves of eagles and the lower-halves of lions. They screeched at Firo as the Filolial was forced to come to a stop, turning around only to find still more Griffin's swooping down to cut off their retreat.

Things were looking hopeless, and Shirou was just about to use the transport sword to get them out of there, when a horrifying presence let itself be felt. An absolutely stifling amount of mana filled the air, and the trees shook from the a powerful, beating wind. The Griffin's screamed in terror as the sun was momentarily blocked out by a pair of wings, each of the hybrid monsters turning and running away as fast as they could.

Shirou didn't even have time to look before the creature arrived. It landed on the ground with a sound like a mortar shell going off and kicked up about the same amount of dust. Its shadow leaned over them, the monster being as big as a four-story building even while crouched on its hind legs, with two sets of powerful wings, each wing being the size of a soccer field. Its long limbs were almost spiderlike in how they were positioned, and the front talons had an extra finger and were arranged to look like human hands with apposable thumbs. Rather than a lion's lower half, this creature's lower body was more lanky, like a monkey's, and the curved beak of an eagle was replaced with a more straight, spear like beak. Large parts of its fur and feather were discolored and there was a third eye in the center of its forward.

"Firo, move!" Shirou pushed the Filolial's sides, getting her gone just in time to get out of the way of the creature's massive front claw as it wracked at the earth where they had just been standing. The monster let out a piercing scream as Shirou and Firo bolted back into the woods, its open mouth revealing multiple rows of shark like teeth inside of its beak. "What in the world is that thing!?"

[Mutant Griffin: Lv 106]

[A remnant of an old experiment performed by an alchemist hundreds of years ago in an attempt to create the ultimate monster. The alchemist wished to rediscover the method for breaking through the level 100 cap. Unfortunately, he succeed. The Filolial and their Queen warred against the Mutant Griffins and their king in an attempt to erase their threat from the world, but some of them still remain in the more remote regions of the world.]

"Fucking Alchemists!" Shirou shouted, the memories of dealing with some of Atlas's escaped experiments coming back to him. It had been the mission that had given Shirou a deep seeded trauma about dealing with Alchemists and their experiments. It seemed like they were the same in this world too. Who in their right minds thinks that engineering a super monster that could threaten the world was a good idea? Honestly, even the Clocktower wasn't that stupidly blind when it comes to research.

Rather than flying, the Mutant Griffin pounced after them, like a cat trying to catch a grasshopper, each time it jumped it would attempt to trap them inside of its talon-like hands and each time Firo would narrowly escape capture. During one such lung, when the Mutant Griffin came exceptionally close to grabbing the duo and its head came within Shirou's 15-meter range, Shirou tossed the Griffin Sword at the monster's eye with all his reinforced strength.

The sword broke through the sound barrier and hit the creature square in the eye, but rather than cutting the monster's eye out, there was a sound like a pebble bouncing off sheet metal and the blade just glanced off the surface of the eye without inflicting any damage at all. The sword vanished as Shirou left the 15-meter range of it, before he received any punishment for dropping the sword. Even with the buffs against hybrid monsters, the difference in level made the beast immune to Shirou's attacks. He needed a bigger weapon.

Jian gave him a mild mental prodding, warning him against breaking the rules of their forced contract. Even in a life or death situation, she wouldn't let Shirou use any other weapon but her.

This was ridiculous. They had multiple miles left to go, they couldn't keep running for six hours with this behemoth on their heels. He would just have to transport out and find another way around the border.

 **[WARNING!]** [The Mutant Griffin's passive territory creation magic is blocking my [Transport Sword].]

"Typical." Shirou grunted before tracing a copy of Angurvadal. "Firo, close your eyes!" Shirou told the bird before Breaking Angurvadal and tossing it over his shoulder. A painful convulsion shot through his arm as he received his punishment from Jian. Luckily, it was still not using Angurvadal in the form of a real weapon, as no physical damage was done, so the punishment was minimal and only left his right hand feeling a little numb.

The light and noise from the sword's detonation could be seen from miles around, and the Mutant Griffin's unfair defense stat, didn't protect its eyes against this type of attack. The Mutant Griffin's scream was hollow as disorientation cause it to start to puck. Even though Angurvadal's effects wouldn't normally stager allies, the Broken sword left Firo stumbling a few steps before she managed to pull herself together and continue her mad dash, quickly building up distance between them and the abomination that was at their backs.

Having lost its quarry, the Griffin took to the sky, its wings shaking the trees all around it. Shirou hoped that they would manage to escape its eyes with the beast with the canopy above their heads, but this hope disappeared as he sensed a coming unnatural phenomenon.

"[Hundred Swords]!" Shirou shouted as he pulled up on Firo's reigns, bringing her to a stop. A hundred copies of Jian's base form appeared behind them, each one dug into the ground close together with only a little bit of room between them. "[Sword Change]!"

[Giant's Dagger]

Each of the weapons was twelve feet long, a foot wide, and forged of solid iron. The hilts alone were each as wide as a human waist. The weapons were once wielded as dagger by one of the giants of Arthurian Myth. They were completely unwieldable by human hands and not of the finest quality, making them have a rather low level requirement with Jian. Shirou had copied them into her arsenal not to ever be used as a sword, but rather as an impromptu barricade.

He was glad he had prepared for something like this.

The blast of raw magical energy hit the ground somewhere behind the barricade and the ground shook from the impact. The forest all round them was destroyed as the blast blew the trees straight out of the ground. The force from the wind alone broke through a few lairs of Shirou's defensive wall, though the barricade took the brunt of the attack. In the end, they were protected from the attack itself, but not the after effects.

"Firo!" Shirou cried as Firo collapsed to the ground as the pressure from the magical energy sent her into shock. While the bird had a large quantity of magical energy, she didn't know how to use it in order to protect herself from such an intense pressure. Shirou himself was barely dazed by it, as his own Magic Resist and the effects of the Holy Shroud, even weakened by tracing, were enough to protect him against even a pressure of this intensity, but Firo would need time to recover.

Time was not exactly something they had though. The dust kicked up by the magic bombardment was shielding them from the Mutant Griffin's eyes at the moment, but once it settled, they would be exposed. The trees all around them had been destroyed and it was a good quarter mile to get back into cover. Shirou could make it on his own… but that would mean leaving Firo behind to die. That was not an option. Monster she maybe, but Shirou liked the Filolial and wasn't about to give her up.

This only left one thing. "Trace on." Shirou said, hardening his pain receptors in preparation for what he was about to do.

[A Hero can't fight with anything other than the legendary weapon in his possession.]

Jian warned Shirou, though he ignored her. It wasn't like he had any other choose.

Shirou changed Jian back into a sword and buried her in the ground before lifting up his now free hands. In his left hand he traced the black bow once wielded by Archer, and in his right he traced a long black sword, shaped into the form of an arrow.

Sparks began to appear on Shirou's body as the punishment began, though Shirou pushed on, Notching the arrow to the string and pulling it back.

 **Legendary Weapon Rule Violation: Contact With Unauthorized Weapon**

That was when Shirou's world exploded on pain. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time he had tested the results of the punishment in actual combat. Swinging a sword in practice brought about horrible pain, but actually having the intent to kill a target with an arrow was bringing about something worse. The intensity of the punishment grew until Shirou's vision began to go black. He could feel the skin on his hands being burned away as he struggled to maintain his grip on his weapons and pull the arrow all the way back into firing position. His world spun from the pain and it was a struggle to control his body at all.

Firing an arrow with any amount of accuracy in this kind of condition was impossible. Luckily, he didn't need to aim, the arrow would do that for him. His hands guided themselves as Hrunting, the Hound of the Red Plains, sought out its target. Shirou could feel it, waiting to be released, and so he added as much prana as he dared and then let the arrow fly.

Shirou didn't see the arrow, or its target, he only felt the arrow around him tear as Hrunting slipped between his fingers as went straight for the Mutant Griffin. First Shirou collapsed to the ground, the bow disappearing and him sucking in air in an attempt to combat the electric pain that echoed within his body. Then something else hit the ground.

The Mutant Griffin was dead, unless it had the kind of healing power necessary to survive being hit in the head with a legendary sword that was made for the solo purpose of killing monsters, going at ten times the speed of sound. Shirou had his suspicions confirmed by a tiny 'bing' sound, informing him that he had gotten the EXP for the kill.

[+382440 EXP]

[Emiya Shirou: Lv 42]

[Firo: Lv 35]

That one monster was equal to five hundred other Griffins. The term 'boss monster' came to mind.

"…J…Jian… Potion." Shirou coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. He seemed to have bitten his own tongue to the point where a large chunk of it was flapping around in his mouth. Jian only hesitated for a moment before letting the potion drop out of her crystal. Shirou pulled himself too it, then popped it open with his blood stand hands and took a drink. The effects weren't instantaneous, but he could feel his body knitting itself back together. "You could have killed me."

[This wielder brought it upon himself.]

"If I didn't use other weapons that thing would have killed us." Shirou argued.

[A Hero can't fight with anything other than the Legendary Weapon in his possession.]

"Heroes die all the time because they listen to unreasonable patron gods like you. How many of your past wielders have died because of your restrictions?" Shirou grumbled. Shirou expected to be shocked for his comment but wasn't. Jian responded after a short pause.

[The Legendary Weapons are created as blank slats each time the Heroes are summoned. It is up to the Hero to help them grow.]

[I have had no other wielder.]

So, the Legendary Weapons are something like Servants, in that they are different each time they are summoned, copies of the ideal that exists somewhere within this world. Made sense.

Shirou could actually feel the sword's embarrassment at having admitted such a thing. "Sorry… If I knew you were a virgin, I would have been more gentle with you." Shirou said with a cheeky grin, and was promptly shocked.

Worth.

[Some items can help unlock new forms for the Legendary Weapons. No upgrades are retained.]

"Are you sure you want it? It was killed by unclean means." Shirou said as he pushed himself to his feet. Jian assured him that she wanted it, so he went to grip Jian's hilt but stopped when he noticed the raw state his hands were in. This was going to hurt like a bitch when the adrenalin wore off. He traced bandages and wrapped his hands before drawing the sword. By now, Firo was back on her feet and helped Shirou by carrying her master all the way to where the super mammoth sized Griffin's corpse lay. "So, what part of it do you want?"

At first, he was skeptical, but then the space around the monster bent and the entire thing was sucked into Jian at once. Shirou's jaw dropped open as the list of unlocks and item drops came up. He scanned it for the list of meat and found that Jian had just ate a creature that weighed over 1,500,000 pounds in a single bite. "It's official, you are the biggest eater."

[Griffin Sword II (0/20) (Unlocked) – Rarity: Uncommon – Base Power: 25 – Equip Bonus: +7 attack, +4 speed, +10% damage-to-hybrids (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

[Griffin Sword III (0/35) (Unlocked) – Rarity: Rare – Base Power: 52 – Equip Bonus: +12 attack, +7 speed, +12% damage-to-hybrids (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

[Griffin Sword IV (0/55) (Unlocked) – Rarity: Very Rare – Base Power: 91 – Equip Bonus: +18 attack, +11 speed, +15% damage-to-hybrids (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

More powerful versions of the Griffin Sword became unlocked. The most powerful one, Griffin Sword IV, being just shy of an E rank noble phantasm in base quality, though it lacked the Mysteries that made Noble Phantasms truly powerful. It was still the most powerful weapon Shirou was capable of using… without being punished.

Well at least something good came out of dealing with that monstrosity.

"Guee…!" Firo called out, bringing the pain dazed Shirou back to reality where Griffins were still circling overhead. The died of the Mutant Griffin leaving them confused, but if they noticed Shirou was injured they would probably go in for the kill.

"Right, be better get… better get…" Shirou started to try to get back on Firo's back but fell off immediately, frightening the bird. Everything that had just happened to his body was catching up to him. As he struggled to get up, the Griffins started to land around them, and circle like a pack of lions. "This… isn't good." Shirou changed Jian into the new [Griffin Sword IV] form and instructed her to enhance its anti-hybrid effects, preparing for a fight. "Jian, can you teleport us out now?"

[The Filolial Queen's territory creation magic is blocking my [Transport Sword].]

"…Filolial Queen?" Shirou said, puzzled. Then he realized that his head wasn't just spinning from the pain and that the fog in his vision was real. Something was there, a presence so vast that it made it difficult to even comprehend.

As the fog thickened, the Griffin's in front of Shirou started to tremble and back away, as if frightened. The Griffin's tails lifted and poop came splatting out as the hybrids actually shit themselves in pure terror. Shirou turned around… and then had to look up.

Standing in front of him was a white and sky blue Filolial, one of the same kind of body shape as Firo… but if Firo was large for her breed, this thing couldn't even be compared. Calling it a giant would be laughably underwhelming. While of around equal height, it was more than twice the size of the Mutant Griffin and was radiating a level of power that Shirou had only ever associated with the Greater Holy Grail, or Zelretch when he was actually being serious. Actually, this might have been even more powerful than that.

[Filolial Queen: Lv 250+]

Other, more normal Filolial surrounded it, each looking at the Griffins with an expression that could only be called, hungry. The Griffin's tried to feel, but as they took to the sky and retreated, spaced bent around them, sending running them straight back towards the army of Filolials.

Fifty Griffins and around three hundred Filolials. It was a slaughter. Though Shirou didn't watch any of it. He was too busy just staring dumbly at the massive bird that was right above him. It was the humbling knowledge that this thing could destroy him with a thought if it so chose that routed him to the ground. He thought he might pee himself.

When the Mutant Griffin released its power, it must had drawn the attention of the one that hunted it. If Shirou had just held out for a little while longer, it would have probably killed the Mutant Griffin for him without him having to use any Noble Phantasms.

The Filolial looked down at Shirou and Firo who both stared up at it with open mouths, Shirou frozen in fear and Firo stammering with excitement. After a few moments, the giant bird seemed to tilt its head in a smile before the crown of feathers on its head began to glow and a single feather fell down to Jian, who greedily absorbed it.

[Filolial Series Unlocked]

…Well, it seemed that the God Bird had decided to bless them instead of eating them.

The other Filolials quickly devoured all of the Griffins and then the Filolial Queen and her subjects all turned to leave, the fog disappearing with them.

As the fog faded, Shirou realized they weren't in the same location they had been in before. They were now out of the mountains and in the middle of a plowed field of what appeared to be corn.

Confused, relieved and tired, Shirou collapsed to the ground, his consciousness failing him.

* * *

Shirou awoke to the all too familiar feeling of a small naked girl holding on to his right arm and sighed. This was why he didn't sleep naked anymore when alone. "Illya… how many times have I asked you to stop sneaking into my…" Shirou paused as his eyes opened and he realized he wasn't in his room. He then pulled down the sheets to find that the person holding onto him wasn't Illya, but a child he didn't know. A young girl of around ten years old with long blond hair that reached down to her waist… and white feathered wings.

What?

Exposed, the girl shivered and started to wake up, as she did so, there was a low grumbling sound. "Uh… Master, Firo's hungry." The girl said sleepily as she pawed at her eyes.

What!?

Suddenly the door to the room opened and a strange elderly looking Demi-human with bright red hair and wings walked through the door. "Ah, I see you are awake. Very good. Very good indeed." The man said before closing the door with a hand that looked like a bird's talon. The man looked like a mess, his hair and wings both looked very unkept, his clothes were stained and probably hadn't been washed in a while, and he had a healthy bread growing on his fat neck. His overall appearance, along with his girth, gave him the look of a stuffed rooster as he hobbled towards Shirou. "Hero-sama, it is an honor to have you in my humble town, and I will gladly do anything within my power to assist you on your noble journey… but… if I may be so bold, I have one small request." The man said, as he awkwardly shifted from one of his fat chicken legs to the other. "You see, it would benefit my research immensely if I could have just a small sample of your sperm."

WHAT!?

 **[Waypoint Discovered – Lord's Manor, Halbstadt, Siltvelt]**

* * *

 **I'm going to put it here so that I don't get a hundred people telling me I'm wrong. Heroes don't get class ups. So there is no level 40 level cap on Shirou. Nor do they have level 100 caps.**

* * *

 **Because of popular demand, I returned Jian to only speaking in misleading messages.**

* * *

 **The original Filolial Queen bends space and time simply by existing, is powerful enough to travel between timelines at will if she so wishes, and can just ignore attacks made by even pureblooded dragons that fully powered heroes couldn't fight head on. We are talking 'could destroy the world if they felt like it' levels of power. Filolia IS a god. Yes, Shirou would be intimidated.**

 **Naofumi's opinion of the queen was that this was a being that could kill all of them at any time if it so choose and that it was best to not get on its bad side, and he couldn't even feel the effects of her bending space and time around them.**

 **She single handedly killed all of the heroes multiple times (across multiple timelines), and then defended the world against all the waves (which were stronger because of the deaths of the heroes) by herself. The only reason Naofumi and the others weren't immediately killed for their infighting, was because she had become depressed from the long years and didn't wish to continue killing for the greater good (kind of like Archer).**


	12. Chapter 12

"Firo, gets some clothes on. We're leaving." Shirou said flatly, getting out of bed, his hands going towards where Jian was at his side. They must have been unable to separate him from her, thus proving that he was indeed the Sword Hero. What a drag.

"Wha? But Firo is hungry!" The little girl said stubbornly.

"We'll be out of here just as soon as you get dressed. Then I will personally make you breakfast, alright?" Shirou told the girl.

"Master is going to cook? Yeah!" Firo said, jumping up and down before stopping. "Oh, but Firo doesn't have any clothes."

"Trace on." Shirou quickly projected a plain white dress and throat it over to Firo. "There, now get dress."

"'kay." Firo said happily as she pulled the dress over her head.

"Wait, please! I know it is a strange request but my research is very important! It could end up saving the lives of hundreds of thousands! Please hero, at least hear me out! I'll do anything you ask! Please!" The fat Demi-human bird-man said in a panic and he ran over to Shirou, trying to grab onto him with his taloned hands, which Shirou know saw hand nails stained black with ink. He must not have been able to hold a quill and just stuck his nail in the ink pots instead.

The words 'saving the lives' and 'I'll do anything you ask' jumped out at Shirou, who paused, after having grabbed the man's limbs to stop him from sinking his talons into his shoulders.

Shirou had been attempting to get into Shildfrieden, but because of increasingly unlikely circumstances, he had not only failed in his original objected, but been transported more than two hundred miles further south into Siltvelt and into the territory of a noble would was despair for his seed. Perhaps desperate enough to help Shirou with his original objective. Got to give Luck one thing, it makes you fail in the most spectacular of ways.

"…I'll be back in one hour. We'll talk then." Shirou finally said. He needed to check on the children as soon as possible. While trusting them to a man as dubious as this one felt worrying, he could still transport them all to this town and then find a way into Shildfrieden from Siltvelt. The border guard was probably more relaxed as the two countries were not really enemies.

"Yes. Yes of course. But, where are you going?" The man asked, but Shirou didn't respond. He just activated Jian's [Transport Sword] Skill, which actually worked for once.

* * *

Shirou didn't know what he expected when he teleported into the middle of the camp where he had left Rita and the children, but it certainly wasn't an arrow trained on his chest. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" Rita demanded of Shirou with bow drawn. The children and scattered when Shirou and Firo had appeared.

"Easy there Rita, no need to be jumpy." Shirou said, waving the girl down. He dismissed the trace of the arrow though to make sure she didn't lose her grip and shoot him on accident. The shot probably wouldn't have killed him, but it would have been another hassle to add to the list, and holding onto an arrow at even half draw was very difficult to do for an extended period of time. Shirou would have to teach the girl proper safety protocol.

Rita blinked in surprise as the arrow in her hand disappeared. "Sensei?" She said as she lowered the bow. "What happened to your hair?"

"My hair?" Shirou repeated, before realizing that the wig was gone. "Oh, I had been wearing a wig before so that no one would recognize me. I most have lost it without noticing." Shirou explained as he ran a hand through his hair. "Do I really look that much different without it?"

"Well… you do look a lot… younger with a bit of color." Rita said, flushing with embarrassment. She must have felt bad about drawing an arrow on him.

"At least I know that the disguise works." Shirou said with a smile. He didn't really care about what he looked like, as long as he wouldn't be recognized. He projected another copy of the wig, so he wouldn't forget to later. He was still trying to keep a low profile.

"Master, you promised Firo that we would eat when we got back." Firo said, pulling on Shirou's arm in order to get his attention.

"Firo?" Rita said, looking down at the small blond girl.

"Yeah… apparently." Shirou said then sighed. "I'll start breakfast for everyone."

"Yeah~!" Firo shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

* * *

Firo proved her identity by eating as much as all the other children combined, before proving it again by jumping into the river and returning to her bird form, causing the clothes Shirou gave her to rip into pieces and return to being just specs of prana. Luckily Shirou could always just project more simple clothes, but if she was going to be transforming in public, the was going to eventually be a problem. But now, even in bird form, Firo continued to speak normally. Shirou had no idea if she had this ability before and just hid it, or if was triggered by the transformation.

She claimed to have had the power to transform for a while now, but just hadn't had a reason to. Not until they took Shirou into the house while he was injured and she couldn't fit through the door.

Shirou explained to the children that he failed his mission to get into Shildfrieden, by getting into Siltvelt instead, but that a Lord there might be willing to assist in exchange for a very unusual favor. Not that Shirou explained to them what the favor was.

[Transport Sword: Ready!]

Jian informed Shirou after the hour had passed.

"Alright, I'm ready to use the teleportation ability again. Since I passed level 40, I can transport 5 people at a time. Rita, Firo, I'm going to leave the two of you here to watch things while I'm…" Shirou started but Firo stopped him.

"No~!" Firo shouted, shaking her head rapidly. "I'm going to go with Master!"

"Firo, I'm just going to be gone for an hour. Even if you came with me during this first trip, I'd have to leave you there when…"

"No~!" Firo shouted again. "Firo stays with Master!"

Shirou sighed at the Filolial's childish nature. She was less than a week old after all. Shirou walked up to the tantrumming bird and started to pat her head. "Firo, I know you want to come with me, but I need you to help protect the other children. What if something happened while we were away? I have to leave, but I'm sure that if you were here, then everything would be okay, because you're so big and strong." Shirou said as he calmed the girl down. "Can you do this for me, Firo?"

"…Okay." Firo finally said, though she didn't seem happy about it. "Firo will keep her followers safe, but hurry back."

Followers?

A problem for another time.

"Rita, I'll leave extra food and clothes for Firo, try to make sure she doesn't run off too far." Shirou told the fox girl.

"Understood. Good luck, Sensei." Rita said, bowing to Shirou with a large smile.

* * *

"Hero-sama, you're back!" The fat chicken-man said as Shirou ported in with the five children he had picked to accompany him. There was a maid with him the time. A demihuman woman with both bunny ears and some kind of green scales growing on the side of her neck. Her jaw seemed to be a little misshapen, a birth defect? "Oh, you brought children with you?"

"Refugees orphaned by the Wave in Melromarc. I'm hoping I can arrange to find homes for them away from slavers who would take advantage of the Wave to make money." Shirou explained. "There are eighteen of them in total in need of homes, I can only transport five at a time and only once an hour. So you have one hour to convince me that you are someone I can work with."

"Well, finding homes in my town for orphans shouldn't be too hard. My citizens are often looking to adopt." The man assured Shirou. "Marica, would you please take care of the children while I speak to the Hero-sama?"

"Of course." The woman said, her voice that was a mixture of shrill and horse, but not unkind.

"Could you not call me that. I'd prefer to keep a low profile." Shirou said, looking at the Lord. "I'm just a mercenary. You can call me Shirou."

"As you wish, Shirou-sama. I am Nico Götz Wachtel, the noble of this humble town. I am at your service." Nico said with a bow of his head, completely missing the point of not drawing attention to Shirou.

"You say that you can find the children homes here? How sure are you of that?" Shirou asked the man, trying to get to business as soon as possible. Not that Nico seemed to mind. The man had a timer on convincing Shirou to stay.

"It won't be a problem at all. As I said, adoption is extremely common in our town, mostly because 25% of our population is sterile." Nico explained with a slight wave of a talon.

"…Sorry, what?" Shirou said, his eyes widening. Was the town built on a radiative dump or something? Was there something wrong with the water?

"Yes, you see, I founded this town in order to be a sanctuary for people and parents of Mixed Blood fleeing persecution in Siltvelt. This is related to my… unusual request." Nico explained as he gestured Shirou to follow him into a cramped study filled with books and loose papers. "Tell me, how much do you know about genetics? It's an old science studied in secret at the universities in Faubley, rumored to have been brought to this world by a summoned hero such as… well you know."

"I'm familiar with the concept, though I haven't delved too much into it." Shirou said with a nod. As Illya was a child born from a homunculus and a human, Shirou and the girls had poked around in the subject of genetics to see if there were any solutions to be found there, though they came up with nothing of value.

"Ah, that will save me time explaining. You see, while it is entirely possible for demihumans of different subraces to breed together, or even for them to have children with humans, there are often… complications involved. Religions declared that the reason for these unfortunate complications is because the gods despise children of mixed blood and that the love between people of different races is unnatural. However, the truth is that it isn't a result of angry gods, it is because of genetics. More specifically, many of the different races possess different numbers of chromosomes." Nico told Shirou, who immediately nodded in understanding.

"Down syndrome caused by hybridization of similar species. That explains the infertility rates." Shirou said. It was the same thing as what happened when you breed a horse and a donkey. As for the religion bit, that was the same for incest back in his world. The byproduct was bad, so it was an act of evil.

"Exactly. Though depending on what races the parents were, there could be even more serious health problems. Bones not developing properly, frayed nerves, missing limbs, brain damage, skin decease, the list goes on." Nico said. Shirou thought back to the maid from before. It explained a lot. "People say that falling in love with someone of another race is unnatural, and that would be better if everyone just stuck to marrying within their own clans, but who can control who they fall in love with?

"I have dedicated half my life to finding a mean to counteract the negative effects of mixed breeding, though with very little luck. Our knowledge of genetics is just too rudimentary, coming entirely for records left by heroes hundreds of years ago. Nor has anyone discovered any kind of magical healing capable of solving genetic problems. Alchemy has had better luck, but even Yggdrasil, the supposed miracle medicine can't solve this problem by itself, and even if it could, it is far too expensive to be relied upon.

"However, there is one hope. You see, there are two entities that are capable of producing offspring with any species in the world without the children ever having any sort of health issues. The first is Pureblooded Dragons, and the second is Legendary Heroes. Not only are the children always health, but so are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Though it doesn't protect against the effects of inbreeding, as the monarchs of Faubley have learned all too well."

"…Thus your desire for my sperm. You think you can find some kind of miracle cure for mixed breeding." Shirou said uncomfortably. Was there really something about Legendary Heroes that lead to them having healthy children? Was that provided by their weapons or was that a requirement in order to be summoned as one?

"Yes, so please, consider give me a sample of your sperm." Nico said with a deep bow towards Shirou.

"…And how exactly would you precede if you had it? What kind of experiments are we looking at here?" Shirou inquired. Rin and Rider would laugh their heads off if they knew about this.

"Well, the first step would be confirming the legends. For that, I have some monster eggs that I would…" The man started to say, causing Shirou to immediately pale. Monster eggs? The man was planning on fertilizing monster eggs with Shirou's sperm!?

No. Just no.

"As interesting as your proposal is, I have a counter offer." Shirou said, cutting off the man's explanation of the experiences one he had gotten to the point of mentioning volunteers from the local women to bare his children. "Trace on."

Shirou traced a sword, another one of the crystal creations which he and Rin had worked together to make, so that Shirou could produce them as needed. The blade carried inside of it a very special form of healing magic. One that Shirou had went through a lot of trouble in order to get.

It's a good thing that Atlas pays for its missions in IOUs that can be cashed in for information.

"This might take some explaining. You see, in my world there exists an organization of alchemists referred to as Atlas. These people decided to seclude themselves from the outside world, with no one allowed to enter or exit for over 2000 years. This sword carries the magic they used to counteract the negative effects of over 2000 years of inbreeding with a gene pool that started with just a dozen individuals, who were all already related. While everyone in Atlas was... arguably human and the exact nature of the genetic problems might be different, it is still magic that was made in order to combat genetic problems. Might be of use." Shirou said, as he held the sword for the man to inspect.

After Shirou's hollowing mission to contain the biological monstrosity that escaped from Atlas, he had requested to be paid in the form of the most powerful form of healing magecraft that Atlas had concerning unstable magic circuits. As it turned out, one of the consequences of Atlas's inbreeding was damaged magic circuits, and they just included the treatment in their general gene therapy.

Rin was furious with Shirou afterwards, as he had asked for the wrong thing. He needed to ask for how to make artificial circuits not reject the host. While the formula they had got did have some positive effects on Illya's condition, it was something that had to be redone every couple of days, as it healed the damage, but couldn't fix the underlining problem.

The demihuman lord's eyes widened as Shirou explained just what he had, and the hungry look entered his eyes. But as he looked closer at the blade, his expression became frustrated. "Otherworld magic. Not only is it unlikely that I can use it properly, I can't read it. Reverse engineering it would be difficult… but it certainly is a promising lead."

"This blade was designed so that even someone with no magical talent can use them. The trigger word is 'Läßt'. Though it was also made to be a disposable, one time use tool." Shirou said before creating a second one. "I will give you thirty of these blades in exchange for your word that you will make sure that the children are alright."

"Yes. Yes, of course. You have my word." Nico said excitedly, his eyes still locked on the weapons.

"I want you to swear with a magical contract." Shirou said flatly. This was enough to get Nico's attention as the man blinked in shock.

"You really do not trust me, do you?" Nico said slowly. Shirou couldn't really blame the man. The consequence for breaking a geass was usually death. Not that Shirou would use that powerful of a geass unless completely necessary… or if he was just psyching the people out and was going to use Rule Breaker on it as soon as their backs were turned.

"I have a rule about trusting researchers. Especially those who work with live subjects." Shirou explained. "It will be a geass from my world, a low power one that will only knock you out if you break the contract and inform me of the violation. You don't have to fear for your life over an accidental violation."

"I suppose you have a point. I've met some alchemists in Faubley who make my feathers stand on end." Nico said with a shiver at the memories. "The things that woman was doing with monsters gives me nightmares. She actually inserted a giant eyeball right into the middle of the monster's chest, just because she could, and those tentacles…"

'Fucking Alchemists.' Shirou thought on impulse. Shirou closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, only to notice someone standing in the doorway, a small figure, just a child, and they were staring right at him. Shirou turned his head to look at them, but they darted out of the way, giving Shirou only the slightest glimpse of bright blue hair as they disappeared.

It hadn't been one of the children that Shirou had brought with him. The lord's child or grandchild perhaps?

"I'm more than willing to enter your contract. As you are an honorable man, I will trust that you won't take advantage of my inability to understand the language in order to force unreasonable tasks onto me." Nico said, regaining Shirou's attention. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you while you are here?"

"If you have any entry level books on this world's magic that I could look that, that would be nice. Otherwise, I'm going to be spending the rest of the morning getting the children out of Melromarc, and I'll be out of your hair before nightfall." Shirou said with a shake of his head.

"Ah… I see. I suppose you would be too busy to stay, what with the Wave here in Siltvelt happening in just a few days. But if you ever need something don't hesitate to…"

"Wave in Siltvelt? What are you talking about?" Shirou asked, cutting the man off.

"You know, the Wave of Calamity. The one that the legendary heroes were summoned to fight." Nico said, confused by Shirou's outburst. "I haven't been getting regular updates, but last I heard Siltvelt's hourglass said it would be happening within the week. I've already prepared bunkers throughout the town in case the Wave happens to hit us."

Siltvelt's hourglass? There was more than one?

"I was told that the Waves of Calamity were only centralized around Melromarc and its Dragon Hourglass. Are you telling me that there is more than one hourglass?" Shirou said, his eyes widening at the implications.

"What? Who told you that only Melromarc was to be hit by the calamities? Almost every country has their own Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, and each one has its own Wave to deal with." Nico told him, as if it was common knowledge. Probably because it was.

Shirou's confusion turned to tired resignation. Yes, he had assumed that the King had been lying to him, but that didn't mean he had wanted to be proven right.

"If there is an Hourglass of the Dragon's Era in Siltvelt, then I am going to have to synchronize with it in order to be teleported to the Wave, right?" Shirou asked the man, though it was really more of a statement. "I don't suppose you can arrange for me to see it, can you?"


	13. Chapter 13

Shirou found it hard to concentrate. Rin would be disappointed/smug with him.

He had already moved the entire group of children, as well as Firo and Rita into Siltvelt, and was in a spare room at the Lord's manor. Nico was already hard at work trying to fulfill his promise to Shirou and find families to take the children in, as well as making arrangements for him to escort Shirou and his party to the capital to synchronize with the country's hourglass. Firo was playing with the children, while Rita worked on her weapon forms. There was nothing that Shirou needed to do urgently, so he took the time to read through the books that Nico had on the magical alphabet in order to help prepare himself for the journey.

The only problem was that he kept thinking back to all the things he had learned from Nico, particularly about Aultcray Melromarc, or as he was better known, the Victorious King of Wisdom. The man was a crafty bastard by all means, with a huge bone to pick with just about all of the other countries, if even half the things that the Demihumans said about him were true. Which painted a very grim picture of what was going on in Melromarc.

According to Nico, the four heroes weren't supposed to all be summoned in a single country. They were supposed to have been spread out in order to not cause any one country to gain too much power and to help defend as many nations as possible. Melromarc was also not supposed to have been allowed to even attempt to summon a hero first. They were supposed to have been fourth in line for summoning a hero. Nico had been shocked when Shirou had informed him that all four heroes were summoned all at once inside of Melromarc, saying that such a thing shouldn't have been possible. But even if it shouldn't have been possible, Aultcray seemed to have found a way of doing it.

The King had summoned the four heroes while the more moderate Queen was gone, and then purposely misled the heroes so that they would only work to defend Melromarc, surrounding the heroes with spies in order to maintain the misinformation and winning the Hero's loyalty for Melromarc.

The end results being that without the hero's ability to teleport right to the Wave, and the power granted by the Legendary Weapons, the other nations' ability to contain the Waves would be drastically decreased, resulting in massive casualties and tipping the balance of power in favor of Melromarc. Then, once the calamities were over, Melromarc would be in the perfect position to expand and take down the neighbors it had been warring with for generations. And as none of the countries could spare the military forces at the moment to attack Melromarc, and even if they did, Melromarc had the legendary heroes on their side. It seemed like a pretty safe bet, even if all of the other nations wished to unite against them.

Question was, what would Shirou do about it? What could he do about it?

The other three heroes were constantly surrounded by spies and letting them know about what was going on could easily land them a sword in their guts during the night. Even if he did tell them, would they even care? Itsuki and Motoyasu were both just trying to get money and perks out of Melromarc. Not exactly the poster boys for charitable heroes. Perhaps he could talk to Naofumi, as the Shielder only had that single spy with him. Though openly doing it as the Sword Hero might land Shirou in trouble with Melromarc.

It would take too long to find them anyways. Until the Wave happened in Melromarc in another 17 days, Shirou wouldn't have a clue where those guys were. With the Wave in Siltvelt coming up so soon, and the chance of the same being the case in the other nations, there wasn't any time.

It seemed as though Shirou would have to just fight whatever Wave he could by himself, with just Firo and Rita to back him up. But this made him uneasy. The Waves were bad enough to make entire countries willing to risk summoning heroes in order to deal with them. Could he really handle them by himself, hobbled as he was? If anything like that Mutant Griffin showed up, then they would be screwed, unless the Bird God decided to make another appearance. But it was always best not to depend on divine intervention for help.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me off the leash a little just for the Wave, would you?" Shirou asked Jian.

[A Hero can't fight with anything other than the legendary weapon in his possession.]

The now familiar response came.

"Come on. You're a Divine Construct. Why in the world do you feel threatened by me using other weapons?" Shirou said with a sigh. "It's not like I'm seriously going to set you aside for a kitchen knife so why punish me for it?"

[A Legendary Weapon is not threatened! The Legendary Weapon Rules are absolute!]

Jian said coldly, not appreciating Shirou's hint towards her own insecurities.

Shirou raised an eyebrow at this bit of information. Was it really not Jian who decided whether or not to punish him? No, she definitely could trigger the punishment herself, but that didn't mean that there weren't rules that Shirou was supposed to be following that would trigger the punishment with or without her approval.

Shirou himself had assumed that the strictness of the rules, punishing him for even low-level violations, was because it was supposed to act in the same way as shocking a rat. After one or two zaps the rat quickly learns not to touch the metal plate anymore. Any normal human would normally pick it up just as quick.

It was only because Shirou was constantly pushing the boundaries as to what was allowed that he was being zapped over and over again. He wouldn't be surprised if the other heroes hadn't been shocked more than two or three times. Shirou was just stubborn, testing everything in search of loopholes. Every time he was zapped, he would make a bitter comment about it, and every time he successfully managed to find a loophole, he was rather smug about it. Looking at it that way, it was easy to see why Jian would be frustrated with his shenanigans. He might even be hurting her feelings, not just her pride.

"Alright, I get it. But if I can't use other weapons, then I'll simply have to maximize the effectiveness of what I've got until you reach your full power." Shirou said as he opened the menu and looked at the [Griffin Sword IV], his eyes going to the '(0/55)'. "Jian, could you tell me what this 0 out of 55 is about?"

[Information not found.]

"'Information not found'? What do you mean by that?" Shirou asked.

[The Hero Status Interface is limited by the wielder's perception. This hero can tell that there is something missing but does not comprehend what it is. Understanding and faith are needed to unlock new functions.]

"I'm only allowed to use functions that I can understand?" Shirou said, thinking about what Jian was telling him.

It was true that all of the abilities that Jian possessed were concepts that Shirou was familiar with, even if how Jian did it left Shirou baffled.

Monster's killed by a hero providing useful items was a concept in many legends. Even if killing a monstrous dog and getting a top hat was a bit nutty.

Weapons Awakening and Upgrading from Proficiency was the concept of synchronizing with the weapon through use in order to get access to its true potential and make the best use of its enchantments. Something that Shirou did all the time when he sympathized with his traced weapons.

Weapon Enhancing by feeding the lifeforce of the monsters to it in order to teach the weapon to hunger for them. How many Noble Phantasms had that exact same driving concept?

Weapon Copying? Shirou did it all the time.

The only functions this didn't match up with were the ability to absorb random materials and the infinitely helpful 'auto-cooking' function. He supposed that absorbing materials was just so essential to Jian's growth that it didn't require his own knowledge to unlock, and his cooking knowledge might have unlocked the auto-cooking function.

"I don't suppose randomly guessing until I stumble upon the answer is a valid method of finding out new function?" Shirou asked the weapon.

[You could try.]

"I suppose I should." Shirou said… only he had no idea what to even try. His knowledge gained from Noble Phantasms had unlocked some functionality, but what about the rest? He had no idea were to even start. How does one pursue research when they had no idea what they are even researching?

He grunted, thinking about how Itsuki and Motoyasu had both said that the world's rules functioned a lot like games that they played in their own worlds. If those games were based off of this world, like Shirou suspected, then it was likely that the two of them knew quite a bit about the hidden abilities of the weapons. After all, they had known about the sand from the hourglass, which had provided an infinitely useful skill. What other features did they know about that Shirou didn't?

He was at an even greater disadvantage than he thought, and if any of it was something similar to Awakening, which provided him with the Monster and Companion Growth increases, then it would have been nice to have it early. This lack of information could cripple him in the long term.

Shit.

Shirou might have really screwed himself over when he had decided that learning how to read that first night was more important than squeezing every last drop of information he could out of the other three heroes. Even if they were unlikely to share anything.

Taking a deep breath, Shirou focused on Jian. He could feel the openings she was talking about. He had always noticed them. He searched them for any kind of hint as to what was supposed to be in them but could find nothing. Whatever was needed to fill the gaps, it was conceptually foreign to him.

Shirou wondered what Rin would say at a time like this.

'Have you tried throwing money at the problem?'

"Jian could you… I don't know, try to fill in the gaps with money?" Shirou said awkwardly.

[…Seriously?]

"I can't think of anything else to try." Shirou admitted with a bit of embarrassment. "Do it with one of the lower rank forms, so if it screws something up, we won't lose anything of value."

[There is no way this is going to work.]

*Ping*

[…Reinforcement successful.]

[Steel Blade Shield (0/10) → (1/10) – Rarity: Uncommon – Base Attack Power: 8 →8.5 – Base Defense Power: 13 → 14 – Proficiency: (77%)]

Shirou couldn't help but to face palm. "Oh god, Rin is right. Everything about magecraft always comes down to money and resources, doesn't it?" Shirou said as a new option appeared in his status menu; 'Reinforce'.

 **Reinforce Weapons**

Weapon forms can be reinforced within certain limits by absorbing wealth in the form of money, minerals and jewels. Rarer equipment may have certain material requirements that must be met in order for reinforcement to be performed.

Shirou tested how reinforcement worked a little more by reinforcing the Steel Blade Shield a little more. It seemed to have minor increases towards the base stats of the weapon, at least when compared to Upgrading, but could be performed more times, and didn't have a chance of failure. That said, cost was a serious concern. Just getting the low-level weapon up to (3/10) he spent 6 gold coins, most of his allowance from when he had left the castle in Melromarc. While money appearing when Shirou absorbed monsters wasn't too uncommon, it took quite a few before those few copper drops stacked up into gold. After all the monsters he had hunted, he had only made around 5 gold pieces from them.

If he was going to use reinforcement, he would need to either earn a lot more money or figure out a more efficient material to use. Prani Ore came suggested by the interface as an inexpensive gem that was good for reinforcing, but Shirou wasn't entirely sure what that even was. It wasn't an item that existed in his world. Looks like he'll have to ask about for this too. Maybe he could find a mining town or something.

With a tired sigh and a silent oath never to tell Rin about this, Shirou looked out the window to see the sun perched low over the tops of the mountains. It was getting late and he needed to start thinking about making dinner before Firo got too hungry. Else he would have to deal with her drooling into his pot the entire time he was cooking. So placing a marker in the book, he got up and went for the door. Nico wouldn't mind him using his kitchen, right?

But no sooner had Shirou opened the door than he found his path blocked by a tiny eight-year-old demihuman girl in a white dress. The child stared up at Shirou with large golden eyes with cat-like pupils. Her long aqua-blue hair falling down to her shoulders, a pair of two-pronged ivory horns grew out from just above her ears and Shirou could just see a few white scales peeking out from underneath her hair around her neck. She didn't do anything, just stood there staring up at Shirou with those wide eyes.

"Um… can I help you?" Shirou asked nervously. She didn't respond, just kept staring at him. He started to wonder if he should just close the door and try the window instead.

"Master! Is it time to eat yet!? Firo is getting hungry!" Firo shouted as she came barreling around a corner in her human form…

"Firo, clothes." Shirou said, diverting his eyes away from the blond bird girl. But Firo didn't seem to be listening to Shirou, she just locked eyes with the demihuman girl and started to have a stare off, the cheerful smile slowly disappearing from Firo's face.

Just as Shirou started to wonder what was going on, the teal haired child reached out and grabbed onto Shirou's arm. "Mine." The child said, her voice soft, but full of challenge.

"Huh!?" Firo shouted before Shirou even had time to respond himself, her feathers brisling. "No way! Master belongs to Firo!" The angelic girl jumped onto Shirou's other arm and latched on hard. Both small children started to pull on Shirou's arms, with Firo's monstrous strength feeling like she was trying to pull his arm out of its socket.

"He's mine."

"Firo won't lose to you!"

"Both of you stop it!" Shirou tried to protest. The two children were glaring at each other.

"Firo, you need to put clothes on if you are going to transform." Rita said coming in after Firo with a set of clothes in hand for the girl. She stopped after seeing the scene before her. "Sensei, what's going on?"

Firo looked at Rita before puffing out her cheeks. "Firo won't lose to Rita-nee-chan either!"

"Huh!?" Rita stammered, she dropped the clothes she had been carrying as a strong blush colored her face.

"Master is Firo's daddy, so Firo is his favorite!" Firo declared, pulling Shirou especially hard, causing him to topple over, barely twisting to the side so that he wouldn't land on top of Firo. But since neither Firo or the nameless child let go, they were both dragged down on top of Shirou as he fell, landing on his back with the two small girls at around waist level.

"Sensei, are you alri… ah!" Rita was going to go check on them, but slipped on the clothes she had dropped and tumbled, landing on top of Shirou with the other two.

"How did this happen?" Shirou grumbled to himself as he lay on the ground under the three struggling girls.

Requirements met: [Harem Series unlocked – Sword of the Ero Protagonist]

Jian teased. Shirou knew that it was just a tease… god it had better just be a tease, otherwise he was going to Rule Breaker his way out of this. He didn't care if it stranded him in this world, he'd find his own way back home. "How do you even know what that is?"

[Do you wish to add the child to your party?]

"What? No!" Shirou protested, but Jian ignored his protests and added the girl anyways. Perhaps she took offense to Shirou considering Rule Breaker and wanted to punish him. He'd already proven he could shrug off electrocution and so was trying humiliation instead.

[Mystery Girl: Lv 5 – Class: Dragon Hybrid]

Dragon hybrid?

"Ah, Shirou-sama, I see you've met my granddaughter." Nico said with a smile, seeming to not find anything strange about the situation at all. "It's good to see Azu playing with others again."

"Your… granddaughter?" Shirou said, his mind slowly trying to connect the dots. Why was the man's granddaughter part dragon?

…He didn't.

* * *

Shirou sat down to meal with Azu on one side of him and Firo on the other, Firo periodically stop in her meal to thrown angry glances at Azu. It was startling to find her so fixated on something to the point where she would interrupt her eating for it, especially if it had been something Shirou cooked himself, and she had never minded any of the other children before. It seemed that Firo could instinctively tell that the girl was part dragon and was very unhappy about it.

"Nico, why is your granddaughter part dragon?" Shirou asked the man.

"Hm? Well, because her father was a dragon. My daughter was a very special girl and won the eye of Tyr, the pureblooded dragon who once held claim to the mountains to the north of here. She was the only demihuman that Tyr ever took to be a part of his harem in the six hundred years he had lived here." Nico said happily… Why was he so happy that his daughter was dragged away by a dragon in order to… Wasn't this the kind of thing that knights in shining armor were supposed to save princesses from in the stories? "I see you're confused, but you have to understand that both my wife and daughter took after the Aotatsu Clan and followed the Faith of the Dragon. To them, being chosen to be the lover of a Dragon is as great an honor as it is for most Demihumans to be chosen by the Shield Hero."

"I see… so you didn't force her into it for your research." Shirou said. He still found it strange, but it was another world. He didn't really have the right to judge. If the girl wanted to willingly give herself to a Dragon, then it was her right to do so.

…It was still weird.

"No, I did not. My daughter was in love and I gave her my blessings. Unfortunately, other women of the Aotatsu Clan didn't like that a girl of mixed blood had been chosen over them. They took my daughter when she was visiting the town with Azu and they… they…" Nico tried to find the words to explain but couldn't. "Tyr rampaged after he found out. He destroyed a good deal of land throughout our country, but he spared our town and villages. In the end, four of the seven Star Heroes from Faubley were called on to kill him." Azu's head dropped at the story. How long ago did this happen? Did the child remember losing her parents?

Shirou wanted to ask more about these Star Heroes, but it didn't seem like a good time. Such questions could wait.

Azu leaned over in her chair onto Shirou and seemed to breath in his scent. "You feel like papa did. So warm and vast, like a big mound of treasure."

...What?

"No! Master is Firo's daddy, not yours!" Firo said, jumping onto Shirou from the other side, knocking him backwards in his seat.

"Sensei!? Are you alright!?" Rita asked, this time keeping her distance.

"I'm fine…" Shirou grumbled from underneath the two girls, Firo sprawled across his head and Azu in his lap.

He had the sinking feeling that this was going to be a repeating theme.

* * *

 **Shirou still hasn't unlocked all the features for Jian, but this will probably be the last one for a while. The others aren't really things he could stumble across, and would require him to interrogate his fellow heroes in order to get. Even stumbling across 'throw money at it' is a stretch, only possible because he spent too much time with Rin.**

* * *

 **I find it fun, writing Shirou to believe that the other three are actually incredibly powerful warriors/mages and have an edge on him in every form, shape and way. Believing them all to possibly be psychopaths who would kill him for god/gold/glory if asked.**

 **All the time not knowing that if he ever faced them in a straight fight he would curb stomp them into the dirt.**


	14. Chapter 14

"I command the origin of swords. I have broken a truth and created a hope. Gather and quench the heated strike. Faust Aqua Edge!" Shirou declared, finishing his incantation.

The spout of water that appeared was pathetic, as if Shirou had just momentarily turned on a hose rather than called upon the natural forces in an attempt to bring forth a deadly water-based attack.

[The Legendary Swords power amplifies the Hero's affinity for water.]

Jian commented, wondering just why it was that Shirou's water spell was so bad. Shirou could only sigh in agreement, his eyes going to the MP bar that had appeared in the corner of his vision after he had learned his first spell of this worlds magic. Even though Shirou's level was getting higher, and the spell was rather low level, it had cost a disproportionally large amount of MP, especially given the final result.

"It's impressive to manage to learn the magical alphabet and read the elementary-level magic book in just a single night… but the power of your water magic is rather underwhelming." Nico said as he sat in the wagon that Firo was pulling along towards the capital. The demihuman man was turning a little green, as without the children aboard, Firo felt no need to hold back. Shirou had been made to reinforce the wagon to make sure it wouldn't fall to pieces as she ran.

The old thing was larger than the one from before, meant for large delivers of hay and other such things, as the Lord and his lands were not wealthy enough to have carriages meant for comfortable transport. It was a horribly bumpy ride, and Nico and Rita were both holding on for dear life and suffering from serous motion sickness, though both Shirou and Aru were fine. Shirou had dealt with worse riding with Rider on her motorcycle, and he figured that Aru's dragon heritage prevented her from getting motion sick.

Well, as terrified as Nico and Rita were, Shirou wasn't going to make Firo stop. Time was pressing. The Wave could happen before they ever reached the capital if they didn't hurry. He had wanted to leave the day before, but Nico had insisted on staying until the town was set in order.

Besides, Firo was just so happy to finally be allowed to pull a wagon as fast as she could.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for my sword amplifying my ability to use water magic, I doubt I could produce any results at all." Shirou admitted. "Back in my world, I was considered something of a failure when it came to any magic outside of my very narrow field. Elemental magic was just not meant to be."

Well, at least it wasn't a total waste.

"Master, my speed buff is starting to ware off." Firo informed him.

"Alright, I'll reapply it." Shirou told her, causing both Nico and Rita to hold onto the wagon even tighter in preparation for the boost. "I command the origin of swords. I have broken a truth and created a hope. Cut through the air that holds and unleash the power of speed. Faust Agility!"

The spell increased Firo's speed by about 10% and lasted for 5 minutes. It wasn't really that much, but considering it was the first level of the support skill it meant that more powerful magic lay in Shirou's future. So far, the only two support class spells he had learned were Agility and Empowerment, which increased the targets speed or strength respectively by 10%. It would make a good replacement for Shirou's reinforcement magic later on, as unlike reinforcement magic, these spells amplified the strength he was gaining from stats.

Shirou was starting to get to a tipping point where his levels and his weapon equip bonus masters combined gave him strength about equal to that allowed by reinforcing his body to a dangerous level. So right now, reinforcement magic could increase his parameters by 100%. But in just 15 levels, it would be more like 50%, then 25% in 15 more. By the time he was level 100 the increase would be only about 7%, if his status growth remained constant. And considering some of his A++ rank Noble Phantasms required him to be level 200 or more, the effect of his reinforcement was going to eventually disappear entirely. Shirou would need a new way of getting his edge in battle.

It left Shirou wondering just how powerful was Jian going to make him. He was pretty sure his strength would be a match for Berserker by level 120. The Filolial Queen he had seen before had been a literal God, but the best estimate of her level had been 250+. So Shirou had no idea what her actual level was.

Firo still spoke in excited tones about the Queen of Filolial Queens, seeming to wonder if she would one day grow up to be that big and powerful. A frightening thought, though according to Nico there was a level 100 cap that no one save for Heroes could break, as the means to do so were lost to time. Some believed that you could break through with the blessing of a God to help. So as long as Firo wasn't chosen to be the Queen's heir or something, she shouldn't be able to grow to that kind of level.

"I command the origin of swords. I have broken a truth and created a hope. Gather and quench the heated strike. Faust Aqua Edge!" Shirou tried again, getting the same pitiful results. His MP was now low and he would have to stop for that if nothing else.

It had surprised him to find that the 'magic' of this world ran off of a system similar in nature to that of Divine Words, back in his old word, as they used the Mana in the air rather than Od. But just because it used the Mana from the air, didn't mean it didn't cost Shirou something. He just wasn't entirely sure what that something was.

Just like with SP, MP seemed to be its own form of energy that Shirou wasn't entirely certain on. It was some resource that his body had which was used in order to shape Mana in the air, but that was as much as he knew. Jian had told him that SP stood for Skill Points and that MP stood for Mana Points but couldn't tell him what exactly those were. Shirou just knew that these new spells weren't costing him Od, and that MP recharged much faster than his Od did, or as Jian called it, his OP. She even gave him a black bar right next to his SP and MP bars in order to display it.

"Um, Sensei, could you… teach me the magic alphabet sometime?" Rita asked as she watched Shirou trying to get his magic to work.

"I'd be happy to teach you, though magic is a rather personalized art. I can teach you the basics, but it will be up to you to refine that art." Shirou told her. Rita smiled and nodded, promising to work hard.

"Hey Master, Firo can use magic too!" Firo declared, slowing down her running slightly so that she could chant something. "Firo commands the origin of power. Firo has read and deciphered a law of nature. Blow them all away with a raging tornado! Tzuvait Tornado!"

Firo flourished one of her wings out of the side and a miniature tornado appeared, tearing trees into splinters and throwing up dirt as it moved away from them. Shirou's vision was filled with a series of small EXP gains and he hoped that it was just monsters that were unfortunate enough to be in that direction. Even then he felt sorry for them. The magicked-up winds lasted for 20 seconds before disappearing and leaving all the loose objects it had pulled into the air to fall to the ground.

"See, wasn't that great Master!" Firo bragged as she returned to her full speed.

"That… that was a second level wind spell? But how… how was it so power?" Nico stammered in disbelieve, along with the bumping of the wagon. "Where did she even learn it?"

"Members of Filolial Royalty have an innate knowledge of magic." Shirou said with a swallow. Firo was just too powerful. Her strength along with her immaturity were a dangerous combination. She had just summoned a tornado with almost no effort on her part. She could probably do another 50 before being tired out. Her mana pool was just absurd.

"That's right, Firo is the best!" Firo proudly trumpeted.

Azu glowered at this and then, to everyone's surprise, she too started to chant. "I guide the power of wind, and desire embodiment. Earth veins. Give me power. Air Pressure!" An orb made from blades of wind gathered in her hand before rocketing out to the side, blasting through several trees as it went and grinding them into toothpicks. Azu then smiled up at Shirou. "I can use magic too."

"Si…since when?" Nico was as shocked as the rest of them.

"Papa taught me." Azu said simply.

Shirou stared in disbelief, not because the fact that the young girl had preformed magic, but because what that magic was. She had not forced a mystery to occur using her own power to rewrite the natural order. She had merely guided the power of the world into creating a phenomenon, allowing her to create a relatively large effect with very little cost to herself. Her attack hadn't been inferior to Firo's, even though there was a massive gap in level.

"A Marble Phantasm." Shirou said, more to himself than anyone else. "She really is the daughter of a dragon." These two kids are monsters. They really are.

[It's the Dragon's Pulse.]

Jian informed him.

[Wielders of Legendary Weapons can usually learn to wield the Dragon's Pulse, however this Hero is especially ill suited for learning this type of magic.]

"Yeah, I know. Marble Phantasms and Reality Marbles don't mix." Shirou said with a short nodded of understand. Marble Phantasms embraced the laws of the world while Reality Marbles rejected the world entirely. It was one of the things that made him a specialist when it came to killing beings that possessed Marble Phantasms. Once inside of his Unlimited Blade Works, Marble Phantasms were near worthless, as they were cut off from the world that would assist them.

However, this did mean that the other heroes likely will gain mastery over something similar to a Marble Phantasm. Lovely.

"Hmm…" Firo grumbled, her feathers standing on end. "Firo doesn't like that magic."

"I don't like yours either." Azu huffed, sticking up her nose.

"Come on you two, play nice. There is no reason to be so unfriendly." Shirou scolded the two of them.

"To think that a level 5 could use such powerful magic, and Firo's magic is really powerful too, for her level." Rita said in slightly jealous awe.

"Both you and Firo are a lot stronger than your levels would normally allow due to Jian's influence. Even though Firo is level 35, I'd guess that her stats are closer to that of a level 65." Shirou admitted. Not only was there the extreme growth rate granted by the Beastmaster Series weapons, there was additional 66% flat stat bonuses provided by the Filolial series that the Filolial Queen had unlocked. While before she would have barely held her own against one of the normal Griffins they had seen on the mountain pass, Shirou was pretty sure she could fight one of them with relative ease now. "As for Azu, while the power of her spells is impressive, it doesn't come from her, but from her surroundings. So level isn't very important. The power her spell has now will be the same it has 50 levels from now. Technique will decide her power more than level."

"Do you think I will be able to use magic like that?" Rita asked.

"No idea. But you don't need to be powerhouses like them." Shirou told her. "It isn't about what you have, its how you use it. My field of magecraft is considered to be worthless by most, but since it was the only type I could use, I refined it until I got something usable. I have no idea what your specialty will be, but you just have to figure out how to make it work for you."

"Yes, Sensei." Rita said with a grateful smile, before a particularly large bump in the road caused her to jump up into the air with a squeak of surprise. "Cou…could we maybe take a break?"

"Hm… I suppose it is about time for lunch." Shirou said as he looked up at the sky. Hearing one of her favorite words, Firo immediately started to slow down.

"Food?" She said, looking back at Shirou with glittering eyes.

"Yes Firo, food." Shirou chuckled as he started to get out of the wagon with Azu, Rita and Nico too shaken to try to stand.

"I should have just written a letter of introduction instead of coming with you." Nico said with a relieved sigh.

"Grandpa is old." Azu said, patting the elderly Demihuman's head and causing the man to cry.

* * *

"How much further do we have to go?" Shirou asked Nico as they sat in the shade of a large tree. Firo had eaten her fill and was taking a quick nap to digest and recharge from her run. Rita and Azu were also using the limited time on stable ground to rest and recover.

"At our current rate, we will be in sight of the capital in another two hours." The man replied. "Remember your disguise and cover story."

"Yeah, I know." Shirou said, reaching up with one hand to touch the top of his head, feeling the fake animal ears that were now apart of his wig. As humans weren't even considered citizens in Siltvelt, Shirou would need to pretend to be a Demihuman if he wanted to be allowed anywhere near the Dragon Hourglass. Humans weren't allowed in the most holy of temples.

Nico had insisted on certain changes to Shirou's appearance, replacing his plain white wig with white and black one, with rounded animal ears, and a black trench coat to cover his tail, or lack thereof. He said that it was to make Shirou look like a Hakuko, a member of one of the clans that had once been considered among the top five most powerful races in the world, before the Melromarc King decided to enter a total war against them, scarring their lands and slaughtering their children. A Hakuko deciding to live their life as a mercenary wouldn't surprise anyone, but at the same time, the race commanded a bit of respect, even if they lacked the numbers, wealth and power of old.

"Shirou-sama, are you sure that you don't wish to reach out to one of the Clans for assistance?" Nico pressed Shirou again. "As much as I want to say that I can help you, I am a fallen, beggar noble of a town of undesirables. I can barely get us into the cathedral where the hourglass is housed. But if you allied yourself with one of the Greater Clans…"

"Then I would make an enemy of the rest of them." Shirou said to the man. "I might not know everything about this country, but I have dealt with politics enough to know how this works. The Genmu, Shusaku and Aotatsu Clans currently share control over the country. If something happened and one of these Clans gained the support of a Legendary Hero, it is almost certain that the other two would seek to eliminate that Hero in order to stop them from taking more power for themselves. Not to mention the problems it would cause me when news reached Melromarc. I only seek to help fight against the Waves, I'll leave the politics until I have a better grasp of this world."

"I see." Nico said, his shoulders falling a little. "To tell you the truth, I was hoping I could convince you to help raise up the Hakuko Clan again." The man admitted, rubbing his knuckles. "I owe the late King of the Hakuko a lot. When my wife and I were banished from our respective clans for our intermarriage, he spoke up for us, got us the land we needed in order to build our sanctuary and the money we needed for our research. I thought if I could convince you and then you could convince the Shield Hero to support them, then the Hakuko Clan might still be able to recover their position as the stronger Clan."

Shirou frowned. "Why do you mention the Shield Hero in particular? Wouldn't any Hero do?"

Nico blinked in surprise. "Ah, right. I forget that you don't know much about this world. You always seem so knowledgeable. You see, the Shield Hero of old showed preferential treatment towards Demihumans and convinced several of the human countries to deal with us as equals at the time. Because of that, most Demihumans raised the Shield Hero up above the other three summoned Heroes. Our country's national religion is called the Faith of the Shield, though some prefer the Faith of the Dragon. While the other Heroes still have their importance, only the Shield Hero is worshipped."

"What you are asking me to do is walk into a political mine field. If we supported the recovery of the Hakuko Clan, then the three Great Clans would all hire assassins to deal with us. More than likely, we'd be dead within a month." Shirou said with a sigh and a shake of the head.

"…The last Shield Hero did die from political assassination within Siltvelt." Nico admitted. "Forgive me. I know that you have more important things to do as a Hero. A man just cannot forget his debts."

"'Cannot forget his debts'?" Shirou repeated, raising an eyebrow. He had heard those words before from several Magi, and it rarely was talking about paying back favors. "Is this about helping the Hakuko Clan, or revenge against the Aotatsu?"

"…The Aotatsu are the ones most vocal about not seeking assistance from the Summoned Heroes. They have the most to lose if the Heroes gain influence in Siltvelt, as they follow the Faith of the Dragon and do not worship the Holy Heroes at all." Nico said, his head dipping even further in shame. "Once again, Shirou-sama sees straight through me. I will ask for forgiveness again… I just cannot forgive them. Not after what they did to my daughter."

"I know what you mean. There have been times when the people I cared about were hurt. I might have been a little overly zealous about dealing with the people responsible." Shirou told the man.

"Really? You? You don't seem like the type to pursue revenge." Nico said in astonishment.

"I erased two extremely old families from my world because of what their heads did to the people I cared about. Gave me quite the reputation as someone you don't mess with. Earned me a few enemies as well." Shirou said with a slight smile, remembering how he had killed those bastards. It was nice to occasionally come across something that was so undeniably evil that it could be killed without any sort of guilt. Zouken Matou and Jubstacheit von Einzbern where individuals who even slavers or Nazis couldn't hope to match in terms of pure, irredeemable evil. Or so Shirou felt.

"I… I see." Nico said, eyes wide.

"I'd ask you to understand that dealing with the Waves in my first priority. I can't afford to get in deep in politics until the Waves are over." Shirou said with a shake if his head. "If an opportunity presents itself to bring the people who hurt your daughter to justice for what they did, I will pursue it, but I can't create more conflict in order to do it. Not until the Waves of Calamity are under control."

"You would really seek justice for my daughter, even though it has nothing to do with you?" Nico asked Shirou.

"Maybe, maybe not. It depends whether or not it can be done without getting anyone killed." Shirou said with a shrug. "Killing an innocent girl and enraging a dragon over something as petty as jealousy. These people are a danger to themselves and everyone else. Removing them from power would be a civil service. I just need to make sure I don't cause a civil war while doing it."

"That is more than I have any right to ask for." Nico said with a bow of his head. "Thank you, Hero-sama."

Shirou shook his head and started to stand up. "We've rested long enough. It's time to finish heading for the…"

Shirou stopped mid-sentence as something akin to shattering glass rang inside of his head. Both Firo and Azu immediately shot up from their naps, eyes wide upon. Firo's sudden movement woke up Rita who had been resting against the giant bird's warm body.

"Shirou-sama, is something the m…" Nico started, but stopped as the sky started to darken. Cracks were forming in the sky no more than a few dozen miles away. Small specks falling from the sky, which Shirou's reinforced vision allowed him to see where monsters. Tens of thousands of them. The Wave had come, and they just so happened to be right in the middle of it.

Honestly, Shirou should have expected as much. He was always in the middle of things.

* * *

 **Rita is going to have fire, illusion and curse (debuff) magic.**

 **Shirou has water magic, but he sucks at it. His support magic will mostly be strength and speed based, rather than any defense or resistance buffs.**

 **With this chapter, I'm more than likely going to overtake the previous most popular story of the 'Rising of the Shield Hero' category. Three cheers for lack of competition!**


	15. Chapter 15

Jessica had never really understood what it had meant to be a slave. She had been one for six years, working in the house of a lesser noble in a lumber town. It really hadn't been much different from her job before, when she worked as a maid for a dirty Count.

When she was seventeen, her former employer attempted to force himself on her, and when she resisted and threatened to tell his wife, he accused her of being a 'cat burglar' and had her made a slave for crimes she never committed. The man seemed to find it amusing, calling a member of the Keon race a 'cat burglar', ignoring the terms actual meaning. Bastard turtle thought he was so damn clever. The horny dickhead.

But Jessica hadn't really cared. She still did the same work, wore the same clothes, ate the same meals, slept in basically the same conditions and got around the same number of days off. Her life really hadn't changed much. She had always figured that worse things could have happened to her. She could have lost a hand and been left blacklisted, forever jobless and homeless, though she supposed that would have led to her becoming a slave anyways. So she counted herself lucky.

That is, until the sky spilt open and it started to rain monsters.

While all the normal citizens ran to the bunker that had been built in order to hold out till the army arrived, Jessica had a pitchfork shoved into her hand and was instructed to distract the monsters as long as possible with the rest of the slaves. Jessica wasn't the only one to break down into tears and beg for her life.

Fighting against the monsters was unthinkable to them, most of them were just level 1s who had never held weapons in their lives. They worked in kitchens, plowed fields and tended to livestock. They didn't know how to fight. But they couldn't disobey the orders. If they tried to run, then the slave seals would punish them, forcing them to the ground.

The hole in the sky was just a mile away. They watched, trembling in fear as beasts fell down from the sky. They watched and waited as the monsters turned towards the village, slowly closing the distance. It would take them around five minutes to cross the distance.

"Listen up! No one gave us specific orders on how to fight! So everyone needs to gather up in one place! We'll barricade a room and try to limit the number of them that can get to us at once!" One of the older slaves started to bark orders at the others. The man was a familiar face. A human, tall with an overgrown beard and hair that hadn't been cut in nearly three years. One of his eyes was missing, a scar over the empty socket. No one knew his name, as they had taken that from him when he had first mouthed off to his master, forcing everyone to call him Jack on the account of him being made to work as a lumberjack. That was long before most of the other slaves ever arrived at the village.

The human slaves outnumbered the demihuman ones eight to one and tended to have the less nice jobs around the village. Even among slaves, those of demihuman birth felt and were treated as though they were of a higher class than the human slaves. Those like Jack, who worked in the forest, were among the few who weren't level 1s. The need to defend themselves time and time again from monsters as they worked gave them a chance to level up, if only just a little. If they survived, that is. Most didn't last more than a year or two, but they were just humans, so no one really cared. Jack was old and had survived several confrontations where others had not. He had grown to the shocking heights of level 17, as high a level as the average man in the army.

"We don't have time to just stand around slack jawed! The capital is only four hours ride away, so the army won't be too long! Our death sentences haven't been signed just yet and I don't plan on giving up without a struggle! We just need to hold on!" Jack said, hosting his ax in hand, a few of his buddies giving weak laughs of agreement and started to follow his instructions.

Jessica watched, unable to believe her eyes as the beings she had been raised from a child to believe were inferior to demihumans in every way put on grim faces and kept moving. They had a determination to survive against all odds that she had never seen before. "Don't just stand their girly! Get inside and find a doorway!" One of them shouted at her, causing her to jump and move to do as he said.

They barricaded the house of choice as best they could, moving cabinets in front of doors and windows in order to limit the number of entrances as much as possible. However, it wasn't long before the monsters of the wave arrived.

So there they were, roughly a hundred slaves with farming and gathering tools in a larger wooden house surrounded what would soon become a sea of monsters. Many of them began to whimper as the sounds of the creatures grew, sounds much like cackling laughter coming from all around them as the monsters beat at the walls, trying to find a way in.

A window, one too high to be properly blocked, was the first to break, with a large gorilla's arm being shoved through, swinging around wildly. Screaming in panic, one of the young men who tended horses swung at the arm with the till he had been given at a weapon. It dug into the creature's arm and drew a little blood, causing the ape to pull back, but it didn't do much damage and soon another beast took the first's place at the window.

While some where occupied with that, one of the walls started to buckle as the planks gave way under the assault of several monsters throwing themselves against walls in order to break through. They didn't even care about the doors.

One of the points started to give way and the head of a giant hyena pushed its way into their room, snapping its jaws at them. Jessica stabbed at it with her pitchfork, but only got the glancing sound to indicate that her attack was doing no damage at all.

It was Jack who came forward, swinging his axe in a wide arc and smashing it down on the hyena's skull, splitting the thing open. "Don't panic! If you can't do damage alone, then team up, three people thrusting the same weapon together! We just need to hold out!" The man shouted as he moved about the room, smashing his axe into anything that started to poke through.

People around Jessica dropped their weapons and helped her grab the pitchfork and the next time a hyena had started to push open a space between the boards, the they all thrust through it with their combined weight and strength, piercing something and getting a cry of rage out of the monster.

One minute turned to two, and then three, but no one was keeping track. They were all focused on surviving the next few seconds. It wasn't until one of their number began to sob that will to fight on started to die. "Its hopeless. We can't keep this up for three hours. We're all going to die."

"It isn't hopeless, not yet!" Jack shouted furiously. "I did not endure for all these years just to end up as monster shit!" But even that man was starting to show visible signs of tiring. His singular eye registering that death was closing in.

Then, as hope started flicker out, more sounds came from the outside. The sounds of a wagon being pulled far faster than was advisable. The monsters stopped smashing themselves against the wall as they instead charged the newcomers. Dozens of howls and screams could be heard, along with heavy blows that shook the surroundings.

Then, in the middle of the maelstrom outside, a voice could be heard. "Is everyone alright in there!? We're here to help!" It was a woman's voice.

Jessica, along with many of the others approached the wall, trying to see through the brand-new gaps in the woodwork. Outside was a young Kitsune woman wielding a spear, seeming to easily cut down monster after monster as they approached her. Beyond her were four other individuals. One was a small child with dragon's horns that was flinging around magic and an old feathery man who was cowering in a very large wagon with the girl. A third was what had to be the fattest Filolial that Jessica had ever seen, who was sending the monsters flying with powerful kicks and slaps of its wings. And finally was a man with long white and black hair, small round ears and wielding two different styles of swords.

"A Hakuko!" Someone in the house gasped, sending a wave of hope through the group of slaves. They saw the man fighting, carving through monster after monster as they might swing a stick at empty air.

"No one here has suffered any injuries yet! Thank you for your timely assistance!" Jack shouted above the noise.

"How any of you are in there!? Where is the rest of the village!?" The Kitsune girl shouted back.

"There is a few more than a hundred of us! The rest of the village is safe in the bunker, back by the church! You shouldn't worry about them! The thing was made to survive monster attacks like this!" Jack replied. Jessica wasn't sure whether or not that was a lay, but since they had been thrown to the wolves, she wasn't about to be the one to tell their saviors to go and rescue someone else.

"A hundred… I think we might be able to squeeze everyone onto our wagon. Firo, do you think you can pull a hundred people!?" The Kitsune girl shouted to the Filolial.

"Sure Firo can! Its easy!" The bird replied proudly… huh?

"It talks?" Someone said, voicing all of their wonder.

"Alright, if you can get out here, we will protect you and help evacuate you from the area!" The girl shouted in. Their hearts sank at hearing the young woman's suggestion.

"As much as we will like to run, we can't! …We're slaves, and our masters told us to stay here and fight until we die!" Jack admitted.

"That… that's horrible." The young woman gasped, turning her head to the Hakuko man. "Sensei, they…"

"I heard." The man called back before she could even speak. He didn't shout, but his deep voice carried through the battlefield. "If fleeing isn't an option, we will just have to fight. Rita, Firo, protect Azu and Nico. I'll clear the field."

Then, with a massive leap, he disappeared from the view of the people inside of the broken house. "Where is he going?" Jessica couldn't help but to ask.

The Kitsune girl withdraw from the house to return to the wagon to help defense its occupants, calling back over her shoulder as she went. "Don't worry. Sensei will figure something out."

"Yeah, Firo's Master is the strongest!" The bird shouted in agreement.

Barely ten seconds later, jaws dropped in shock as seemingly out of the sky, hundreds of weapons dropped like rocks, impaling or crushing the monsters that had entered the town. Hammers, swords, spears, axes, every kind of weapon you could imagine, each one scoring a lethal shot.

"See!" The bird shouted, puffing up with pride as the weapons seemingly disappeared.

"We're actually going to make it through this."

* * *

Shirou sighed as he downed a stamina potion from his perch on the top of the tallest guard tower.

He had just used [One Thousand Swords] in order to clear the monsters out of the village, making sure to transform all the weapons in view of the trapped slaves into random hybrid weapons in so that no one would make the connection between him and the Swords-Only Hero.

But even with the village cleared, they weren't out of the frying pan yet.

He turned his attention to the expanse between them and the open hole in the sky. With the eyes of a man who could have been an Archer, he could see and track every single monster for four miles in that single direction from on top his perch. Roughly thirty thousand moving dots on the horizon, though many were clustered at the center underneath the gateway, seeming to be waiting to catch their breath.

[Otherworlder Sickness]

[Creatures of the wave suffer status debuffs from the World attempting to weaken them. This effect is only temporary and becomes weaker over time. Stronger monsters may be resistant to this effect. It is suggested to destroy the monsters before they have the chance to regain full strength.]

"I see, makes sense." Shirou said, thinking that the monsters they were facing just now were oddly weak when compared to the dogs from before, even though they gave roughly the same amount of EXP. "But that means I don't need to waste SP on Sword Change in order to kill them."

[Caution]

[A Hero was not meant to use that skill at this level. Over expenditure of SP can lead to danger for a Hero's health.]

Jian warned him, having already read his mind and knowing what he was planning on doing.

"I'll be careful, just be ready with the potions. And give me an extra one real quick." Shirou said.

He caught the vial of green liquid as it dropped from Jian's crystal. Glancing at his SP and OP bars to make sure everything was in proper order, Shirou took a deep breath and got to work.

"[One Hundred Swords]." In an instant, one hundred copies of Jian's base form appeared around him, suspended in midair. "[One Thousand Swords]." The swords all glowed before each split into ten identical swords. Without the need to use [Sword Change] to disguise or empower his blades, Shirou's SP was still running high. This was when Shirou had to open up his magic circuits and start to push himself a little harder. "[Ten Thousand Swords]." Shirou's SP bar dropped to the halfway point as the swords repeated their duplication, leaving him with ten thousand swords, suspended by his will and waiting for his signal.

Shirou popped the potion and drank it down, watching his SP bar refill and readying the final push. For this, he would need a good deal of Od.

"I am the bone of my sword."

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

"I have created over a thousand blades."

Shirou stopped as his magic circuits hummed with magical energy, what he hoped would be enough for this final push. He quickly mixed it together with his SP in preparation for his next attack, and as he did so, new words came to him.

"A wave of death approaching you."

"You cannot run."

"You cannot resist."

"For I march for [One Hundred Thousand Swords]."

Shirou's suspended blades shot off, splitting apart in midflight as they went, and their number increased to one hundred thousand. Guided by Shirou's inhuman eyes, they descended on the monsters of the wave.

[+67 EXP] [+62 EXP] [+54 EXP] [+56 EXP] [+59 EXP] [+61 EXP] [+57 EXP] [+64 EXP] [+55 EXP] [+57 EXP] [+60 EXP] [+65 EXP]…

The edge of Shirou's vision became blanketed by messages of his kill count.

Shirou staggered and nearly fell of the roof before he grabbed the flag sticking out of it to steady himself. His SP bar almost hit zero, and he had drained most of his Od, but he was still able to maintain consciousness. "See, what did I tell you. I'm fine." He said to Jian.

[A Hero should save potions for when they really need them.]

Jian's retort came in, sassy and passive aggressive. She was not happy with his disregard for his own safety.

"Ah, no… I…" Shirou stammered, trying to find words. "Sorry. I'll not push it so hard next time." He apologized to the sword, who accepted his apology and dispensed the needed recovery items. [One Hundred Thousand Swords] was a skill that Shirou had unlocked the previous day after unlocking Jian's one hundred thousandth form. Something that probably should have taken a good deal of time, but as Shirou grew levels, his quantity of Od increased, increasing the number of swords he could trace in a single day before running dry. Shirou wondered how many of the past Sword Heroes ever reached [One Hundred Thousand Swords].

[A Hero's potion supplies are running low. Suggest visiting a herbalist to restock and brew more potions.]

"I'll make sure to do that once we get to the capital." Shirou assured her. He had been going through a lot of them, and once he switched from walking to driving everywhere, he stopped picking up the random herbs needed to create more potions. He had been depending on monster drops for a while now.

"Sensei!" Rita called up to Shirou before hesitantly jumping up to the roof. She didn't quite stick the landing and Shirou had to grab her, so she didn't fall off. She still wasn't used to being as strong as she was but was coming around to the idea of being able to jump thirty feet into the air. "Sensei, that was incredible. All of those swords…"

"Thanks, though… I don't think I'm going to be doing that again for a while." Shirou said as he glanced back towards the hole in the sky, which was still dispensing monsters. "Also, this isn't over yet. That attack has a drawback, in that the weapons aren't as strong as they normally are. The boss monster is still alive. He doesn't even seem hurt from the four swords I pegged him with." Then he smiled. "Good news though, it looks like he is coming this way. I guess I got his attention."

"What?" Rita said, turning her head a looking out over the expanse. "Where is it?"

"It's that giant lion over there." Shirou said as he casually pointed in its direction. "It's about three-quarter miles out. It's be here in a minute or so."

Rita squinted her eyes in the direction that Shirou pointed in. "I think I see it. Sensei's eyes are a lot better than mine."

"I suppose so. You handled yourself well earlier. You've been practicing hard." Shirou complemented the girl on her performance. "I doubt anyone could tell that it was your first real battle."

"It's only because of Sensei that I am a high enough level to fight here." Rita said with a shake of her head.

"Give yourself more credit. You didn't hesitate or flinch when they came at you. You held your ground and remembered your training. You were incredible for having only had a week's training under your belt." Shirou said, giving the girl a pat on the head.

At first, he had been worried for her, and given her the 'Griffin Armor' which had come as a drop from when he had absorbed the Mutant Griffin. According to the numbers, the shiny bronze and gold armor with decretive wings patterns was comparable to Shirou's enhanced body armor and Holy Shroud in all save for magic resistance, with a special ability to grant temporary flight. However, she hadn't actually needed it, as she never took a hit.

"Thank you, Sensei." Rita said, blushing with the praise.

"So, do you feel ready to fight the Wave Boss by yourself?" Shirou asked her with a grin.

"Huh!?" Rita shouted, so surprised that she almost fell off the roof. "I… I can't do that! I'm not ready!"

"Firo and I will be here if you need us, but I think you'll do fine." Shirou told her as he looked over the field at the lion. "You are stronger than you realize, and more skilled. I think this will be good for your confidence."

"But I…" Rita mumbled as she took looked over at the lion which was now close enough to be in easy view, even for her. It was large, twice the size the monstrous dogs that they were so used to seeing. Though in truth, it was only level 35 and weakened by Otherworlder Sickness.

After that tidal wave of EXP, Rita was now level 40, with her stats even higher due to the effects of the Companion Series. That, along with the bonuses given by her Griffin Armor and the enchanted spear Shirou gave her, meant that Rita had the overwhelming numbers advantage over the creature. It was questionable whether the lion would be able to damage her with anything short of a direct hit.

Actually, something seemed a little off in Shirou's party's levels, as his companions' levels seemed to have halted after reaching level 40.

[Emiya Shirou: Lv 58]

[Firo: Lv 40(*)]

[Rita Aselia: Lv 40(*)]

[Azu: Lv 40(*)]

Worrying, but a question for a later date.

"It's time for you to realize that you aren't that frightened child who hid away in a hole in the ground." Shirou said with an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. If anything happens, I will jump in and help."

Rita was silent for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright Sensei, I'll do it."

"You'll do great." Shirou said with a nod. "Now, it looks like its arriving. Let's go and meet it." He said before taking a step off the tower and landing gracefully on the ground.

"I sure hope you are right, Sensei." Rita said with a deep breath before following after.

* * *

[Otherworld Nemean Lion: Lv 35]

A lion that seemed to have a connection in nature to the lion from the Greek Myths about Hercules. A creature that's hide was so immune to blades that the legendary man had been forced to strangle the creature to death, after which the demigod had to use the beast's own claw in order to skin it, as his knife had been useless.

It would normally be an incredibly difficult opponent, the kind for which legends would be written about fighting. Lucky for Rita, her spear's effects meant that the uncuttable skin was very cuttable. Even if this Otherworld Nemean Lion's skin worked the same way as the original.

"Firo, leave the lion to Rita. You can take care of the other once they get here." Shirou told the bird, signaling her to stand down.

"Okay." Firo said, rushing off to stand guard against the freshly fallen monsters from the gateway in the sky. Though it would be another eight minutes before any of them got there.

"You aren't seriously going to make her fight that thing by herself." Nico said with shock. With everything dead, he had come down from the wagon with Azu to stand with Shirou. "I know there is a sang about throwing your students to the lions, but I don't think it was supposed to be literal."

"…Rita-nee is stronger than the lion." Azu said as she watched.

"Oh, you can tell?" Shirou said, glancing down at the little dragon girl, who nodded in confirmation. "If you think so too, then there really is nothing to worry about."

The Nemean Lion slowed as it approached Rita and slowly began to circle around her, though she maintained her stance and slowly pivoted around to track his movements.

Lions weren't solitary hunters. The males rarely hunted at all. Merely wrestled over the kills. Intimidation was their best tool, roaring at their prey, trying to get them to turn their back and leave their necks open. But roar as it might, Rita kept herself focused. Shirou had taught her that in a one on one fight, the first to let down their guard loses.

Eventually, the lion got fed up with the act of defiance and crouched down to pounce at the young Kitsune. The attack was predictable, and Rita easily got out of the way of the lion's pounce, thrusting her spear into his slide as he paced her by.

It had been a good dodge, but she had put too much distance between them and the cut from her thrust was little more than a graze on the monster's right side. No important organize or muscle clumps hit. While it had been a hit, it might as well have been a miss. But at the sight of blood on the tip of her spear, Rita's eyes widened, and her expression became more confident.

The lion slapped its claw at her and she made sure to put her spearhead in the path of his arm, slicing a deep gash across the creature's foreleg and sending it staggering back with a pains hiss.

Minding her footing, so that she could retreat at a moment's notice, Rita pursued, forcing the big cat to move backwards, and even landed a hit on its shoulder. She was doing well, very very well. While she was being too conservative to land a finishing blow, at this rate, she would either be victorious, or the lion would be forced to retreat.

However, the end of the battle was much different than what Shirou had thought it would be, as a heavy fog rolled in out of nowhere.

Rita had been smiling as she slowly pushed the Wave Boss back, but that smile disappeared when she saw the shadow standing behind the creature. "Sensei… I don't think I'm ready for this."

"It's here." Azu said, starting to shiver at the sight of it.

"Oh holy birds." Shirou swore as for the second time that week he saw the massive form of the Queen of all Filolial and God of Birds, standing behind the Nemean Lion.

The poor thing didn't even know what hit it, as the massive Filolial, which towered over the town houses, casually lifted one foot and stepped on the giant lion in the same manner as one might step on a rather large cockroach. The Bird God then dug its talons into the lion's body and lifted it up, tossing it across the dirt to lay in front of Shirou.

Shirou started at what was left of the Wave Boss, his eyes popped out of its head and intestines squeezed out of its mouth and ass as the thing had been flattened underneath the foot of the tower sized bird. It appeared as though the thing had all the bones in its body broken.

The Bird approached them, though before it had to squeeze in between the town's buildings, its body started to glow and rapidly shrank.

Shirou had half expected it, but he was still surprised when he saw the Filolial Queen in her human form. She looked like a ten-year-old girl, no different than Firo, with short silver hair that had three antennae-like hairs sticking up in front which had a golden tint to them. She was dressed in a beautiful white fairy princess dress with pink ribbons and thrills, and her white wings were spread out behind her. However, regardless how young her body looked, her purple eyes told the tale of her age, and held a sadness to them.

She slowly walked towards them, the pressure produced by her magic making them all nerves, until she spoke. "Sword Hero… I would like you to cook that for me." She said.

"…Okay. Sure." Shirou said, not really sure what else to say.

"Also, if you have any more of that Griffin from before, I would like some of that as well."

* * *

Item Drop:

Lion Plushy: Very High Quality: Defense Up (Large), Impact Resistance (Small), Slash Resistance (Large), Thrusting Resistance (Medium), Dark Resistance (Small), HP Restoration (Medium), Magic Amplify (Small), Autonomous Repair, Size Correction, Skill Correction (Small), Race Change – Lion Monster

Lion Claws: Very High Quality : Agility Up (Small), Strength Up (Large), Pierce Power Up (Large), Blood Deterrent, Size Correction

* * *

 **The birth of Firo Lion, the child of Saber Lion.**

 **Yes that is the entire reason I had the Wave Boss being a lion.**


	16. Chapter 16

Rider had once told Shirou to never under any circumstances cook for a God. According to the Fallen Goddess, half of the Gods of Olympus would have acted dismissive of Shirou's cooking, regardless of its quality, just because he was a mortal, while the other half would attempt to turn him into an octopus or something out of jealous fury because his cooking was better than theirs.

At the time, this didn't seem to be very important advice, as the world he was in had long since passed the Age of the Gods. So Shirou had never sweated the details, such as how one goes about turning down a God that has demanded that you not only provide it with food but cook it too.

He just had to hope that the Bird God wasn't the cursing-type.

Luckily it seemed that she was a Goddess of Gluttony and was more than willing to ate whatever was placed in front of her, mortal or no mortal. It was more difficult to get her and Firo to wait until the food was properly cooled than it was to get them to eat it.

Fitoria, as Shirou found out her proper name was, had used her power to bend space and time to place her fog around part of the town and a majority of the field where the Wave had taken place, completely isolating them from the outside world. The Queen had then left her subjects to 'clean up' the bodies while she went with Shirou and his group into one of the larger houses that neighbored a store house. She did however make sure that Shirou was given one of every type of monster corpse for Jian to absorb, after the sword had put up a fuss about all her kills being taken away from her.

Because he didn't want to keep the deity waiting any more than was necessary, Shirou took a few short cuts while preparing his food, using Jian in order to turn the raw ingredients they had in the store house into hard noodles and fresh down, as well as create some sauces to go with various dishes.

The ingredients were only of 'normal' quality when Jian spit them out, but with a bit of reinforcement magecraft and some cooking tricks that Shirou had picked up over the years, he still managed.

[Griffin Dumplings with Mild Spices: Heavenly Quality]

Shirou barely got the things out of the steams before he was cleaning it and shoveling another prepared batch in so as to keep the train rolling. He had ten different cooking stations going at once in the admittedly large kitchen and was barking orders at a confused Rita to get more stuff from storage, or to chop more firewood.

Perhaps he should have felt guilty about using up all the food and spices that the people had in stock, but considering they would have all been dead and their town destroyed if it wasn't for his group, he didn't think they had the right to complain.

If they did wish to complain, they could take it up with the God herself and her army of true omnivores.

Two hours had passed since Shirou had started cooking and both Fitoria and Firo were still eating. It seemed that it took a while for their human form's mouths to eat as much as they needed too. Though it should be noted that Fitoria ate at roughly five times the rate that Firo did, being a master of Saber's almost mechanical method of eating.

Firo had found her idol in life. Which made sense when you realized that Fitoria was the God of Filolial.

Firo had seemed to have taken a liking to Fitoria, as she talked to the older Filolial in her usual bubbly manner and didn't seem to mind sharing the food with her, and if Fitoria's small smiles were anything to go by, she had taken a liking to Firo as well. With the way that they acted towards one and other, it was almost as if they were sisters.

When the younger angel girl had first transformed into her human form in front of Fitoria, revealing herself without any clothes on, Fitoria had given the girl a nostalgic look before creating her a white dress with blue ribbons out of pure magical energy, with a form of enchantment woven into it so that it would transform as Firo did. She created it with a simple gesture, something that would have taken the average magus hours to make, even if they didn't have to deal with Gaia's influence.

Firo had been thrilled and showed off the dress to her Master. Shirou wondered if he should have asked her to create underwear to go with it but thought better of pushing his luck.

Finally, after hours of cooking, the Queen of Gluttony had her fill and sat up more straight in her seat was a sort of happy sigh. "The cooking of a Legendary Hero. It's been so long that I had nearly forgotten how good it tastes." Fitoria said, her voice wasn't loud, but still carried well. She patted her still small stomach in a thoughtful manner, as if she hadn't just eaten 10,000 pounds of food. Enough food to satisfy a small city.

"Yeah, Master's food tastes the best!" Firo agreed as she licked at the bit of sauce that were stuck to her own face before Shirou took a napkin to her. Fitoria looked at Shirou expectantly until he did the same for her… Wiping the mouth of a messing eating goddess. That had been the most uncomfortable thing that Shirou had done in a long, long time.

"Indeed, it makes me glad that I came, though I wouldn't have if I had known that one of the heroes was here. I did not sense any of the heroes being transported to fight this wave, so I planned to take care of it myself. Tell me, Sword Hero, how is it that you arrived here at this battlefield?" Fitoria asked Shirou, talking to him directly for the first time since the gorging began.

"Just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I suppose." Shirou said as he served the Queen a cup of tea.

"Yes. I remember that about heroes too. Always stumbling upon things… for good or ill." Fitoria said, though it didn't sound as happy. Shirou noticed her glancing at Azu from out of the corner of her eye as the trembling little dragon girl tried to hide behind Nico and Rita, both of whom were uneasy. "I suppose you also just happened upon that as well."

"Regardless of her heritage, Azu is just a child and has nothing to do with your conflict with the dragons. I would ask that you not threaten her." Shirou said, hoping this wouldn't come to a fight. He still didn't have all of his Od back. Not that it would have helped him against this monstrosity…

"I'm afraid you are wrong about that, Sword Hero. She has a great deal to do with my old battles with the dragons. Her parent appears to have placed his fragment of the Dragon Emperor's Core inside of her. If it wasn't for this one's humanity, she would have been transformed into a pureblooded dragon already." Fitoria said, turning her head and narrowing her eyes. "In order to prevent the revival of the Dragon Emperor, such things should be destroyed immediately. The fact that the Waves have started means that the danger is even greater."

"Fitoria, leave the girl alone, or I won't cook for you again." Shirou said seriously. The Bird God glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask him if he really thought that would work. It was worth a try.

"Perhaps I should explain to the Sword Hero just how great of a threat the Dragon Emperor is. The Dragon Emperor is what a magi would call a 'Beast of Gaia'." Fitoria told him, her voice showing that she was dead serious.

"…Oh fuck." Shirou said, as those words sank in.

"Sensei, what is it?" Rita asked as she tried to calm Azu.

"…A Beast of Gaia is… It's like this. The World has a sort of collective consciousness, born from the cycle of energy the moves through it, and like any other conscious thing in existence, the World will do just about anything in order to insure its own survival. The 'Beasts of Gaia' are one of those insurance policies back in my world." Shirou explained.

"So the Dragon Emperor is a protector of the World? Then what's the problem? Why are you acting like it is such a bad thing?" Rita asked.

"Because it is only concerned with protecting the World, not the lives in it. To a creature like the Dragon Emperor, if the entirety of sentient life is the cost for the stability of the world, then so be it." Fitoria replied, leaving the girl shell shocked.

"The Dragon Emperor is… was… I don't believe it." Nico mumbled, his eyes wide, though he still tried to shield his granddaughter. The Dragon Emperor was still worshipped as a god by some Demihumans, it's no wonder that they would be shocked to hear about its true nature. Rita looked to Shirou for conformation.

"…She isn't wrong. That's exactly the kind of thing that the Beasts of Gaia usually do, if they aren't stopped or placated. Not that I have seen anyone in this world with the kind of power needed to do such a thing, besides Fitoria, of course." Shirou admitted with a sigh. "You said that the Wave increases the risk. Is the 'World' causing the Waves to happen? A method of drastically reducing the population of sentient life."

"…I do not believe so. The comings of the Waves of Calamity predate even me, and I do not know the cause of them." The Queen of the Filolial said with a slight shake of the head. "However, a drastic reduction of the population of sentient life is one method for stopping the Waves. If half the people in the world die, then the Waves of Calamity will stop. The Heroes who raised me in long past asked of me to make sure this did not come to pass, even if desperate measures had to be taken."

"…I understand the threat. However, I would still ask that you show mercy. Is there anything that I can do to convince you to leave her alone?" Shirou begged the God.

"Hm…" Fitoria hummed as her eyes drifted from the frightened Azu to Firo who was observing the entire thing with an adorably clueless expression, she really wasn't following any of this. "In such a short time, you have already raised an exceptional Filolial Queen. I would like to test her. If she passes, I will recognize your character as a Hero, and allow you to stand guard over this fragment of the Dragon Core until such time as it can be removed without destroying its vessel."

"You want to test Firo?" Firo asked with a tilt of the head.

"Yes. I want to see how well you fight." Fitoria said with a small smile.

A wide smile spread across Firo face and she nodded rapidly. "Firo can do that!" The Filolial child said without asking Shirou's permission.

"Fitoria, please keep in mind that Firo is only nine days old." Shirou said. He worried, but there wasn't much he could do other than place his faith in Firo, and hope that the God didn't demand too much from the girl.

"Perhaps, but she is a Royal Filolial. If she has the qualities that I am looking for, then she will show them regardless of age." Fitoria said, standing up from her seat. "Come, we will fight outside of this town."

"Alright!" Firo agreed, running full speed out the door.

Shirou wanted to say that one shouldn't preform strenuous activities right after eating, but he doubted those two would listen to him. If they get stomach cramps, then it is on them.

* * *

"For the purposes of this test, the two of us will remain in human form." Fitoria declared as the two of them stood part from each other within a barrier which Fitoria had erected. The fact that she could creature such a powerful forcefield with just a simple gesture was another sign of her unbelievable power.

Shirou, his group, and all of the Filolial that the Queen had brought with her stood around the barrier, watching and waiting.

"Huh? But Firo has never fought in human form before." Firo said, her shoulders slumping.

"I know. That is why it will be a good test of your qualities." Fitoria explained. "Beyond that rule, you can do whatever you wish. Any form of technique, trick or magic is allowed."

"Alright!" Firo cheered, bending her knees and raising up her arms. "Here Firo comes!"

While in human form, Firo's monstrous speed was diminished somewhat, though it was still an impressive sight to behold. She wasn't pushing at the sound barrier anymore, but normal people, such as Nico, couldn't keep track of her.

Not that it did any good. While Firo was moving at about the speed that Shirou could have managed in his old world while boosting himself to his maximum, Fitoria was just too fast. The Filolial Queen danced around Firo's punches as if playing with a child… which she was.

"Firo sure is incredible, but Fitoria is even better." Rita said as she watched the little fight playing out.

"Is that what you think?" Shirou said, a conflicted look on his face. "Firo doesn't have a clue what she's doing."

"Huh?" Rita responded with surprise.

"Fitoria's test seems to be about how well Firo will adapt and try to grow, but all she has done so far is throw punches, and not particularly good ones. Firo's never had to use hand to hand before, because she always relied on her long Filolial legs." Shirou pointed out as Fitoria grabbed Firo's arm and simply tossed her through the air. Firo managed to recover using her wings to break her momentum, but her attempt at kicking was met with failure. "Yesterday, I should have trained and equipped her to fight in her human form, instead of learning that low-rank magic. While her kicks are powerful, there is a limit to the amount of technique allowed to such a fighting style, and it puts the user in danger."

Shirou bit his lip whenever he saw Fitoria lash out of Firo with one of her hands, claws made of pure magical energy ripping apart some of the frill of Firo's new clothes, though not damaging the girl herself. Fitoria had aimed to miss. She had been measuring her strength in order to not harm the child since the very beginning. "You leave yourself too open. Those magic clothes won't protect you."

Firo lets out loud whine of frustration before putting her hands out in front of her. "Firo commands the origin of power. Firo has read and deciphered a law of nature. Blow them all away with a raging tornado! Tzuvait Tornado!"

The tornado appeared in front of Firo's hands, more powerful than before. The swirling winds rapidly approaching Fitoria.

"To obvious." The God merely waved a finger and Firo's spell collapsed. At first Shirou thought she might have crushed it under her overwhelming power, but he hadn't sensed any such serge of energy. She had preformed a counter spell, undoing Firo's magic with her own. A feat as easy to do as putting together a ship in a bottle while blindfolded. To preform such a counter spell with just the wave of a finger… Caster would have shat her robes if the demigod witch had seen that. The level of control over her power that Fitoria had was insane.

Fitoria returned fire with single wave of her hand, causing a gust of wind to appear, which threw Firo backwards and up into the air.

At first, Firo flapped her arms and wings about, trying to regain her balance, but Fitoria's winds weren't going to make it that easy. Shirou was worried that the whole thing might have been over, until Firo stopped struggling and spread out her wings. A controlled gust brought her back into stability and she fell to the ground, landing on her feet.

"Much better." Fitoria complimented with a smile. Firo had just preformed a low-level air control spell as a single action without any chant to help guild the energy. Any magus with an air element could have done the same, but for a nine-day-old girl to figure it out in mid combat was worth notice. Shirou sure was impressed.

And Firo wasn't through there. She leaned forward and used the spell again to shape the air in front of her, and push against her wings, boosting her speed. She rocketed straight towards Fitoria with her arms raised.

Fitoria simply lifted one hand and used a measured attack to knock Firo to the side… Only it didn't work, and the bits of magic bounced off of Firo's clothes. Shirou's eyes widened just as much as Fitoria's as he realized she had just used reinforcement magic on her clothes.

The God didn't move out of the way as Firo clawed at the air, sending the same kind of magic claws that Fitoria had used on her back at the Bird God. The attack landed, the first hit that Firo had in the entire fight… not that it did anything.

Firo blinked in confusion at the lack of effect, though Fitoria smiled at her. "Congratulations. You passed." Fitoria said, giving Firo a flick on her forehead, which sent her spinning backwards to the ground.

"Ouch… that wasn't nice." Firo pouted, covering her forehead as she barrier around them dropped and Shirou and Rita rushed to the girl's side.

Fitoria just chuckled at Firo's pout. "You should be proud, Sword Hero. You have raised her well."

"Not well enough." Shirou admitted weakly. "She learned fast because of her instincts, but I should have spent more time training with her. She still has much to learn."

"If that is how you feel, then I look forward to seeing how much she will grow under your care." Fitoria said, sparing a glance towards Azu. "As promised, I will leave the Dragon Core Fragment, and the girl, in your care. Just make sure that she doesn't absorb any more of the fragments. Otherwise, I might have to retract my promise."

"Understood and thank you." Shirou said with a bow.

"Think nothing of it. Now, it is time to mark this Queen's Candidate." Fitoria said as she returned her attention to Firo, who was dusting herself off. One of the upward trending locks of hair began to glow before pair of it slit off. Like a feather, it flouted in the air, twisting and turning before landing on Firo's head, where it seemed to take root, changing to be the same gold color as Firo's hair. The way it stuck up from her head looked a little silly.

Azu snorted into her hands at the sight of it.

"Huh, what's funny?" Firo asked, tilting her head, which caused the strip of hair to sway about.

"I think Fitoria just crowned you as her heir… sort of." Rita exclaimed, halfway between amazed and amused.

"Crowned?" Firo said, reaching up and touching the top of her head, finding the odd piece of hair. "S…something strange grew! No…!"

While Firo was overreacting and Rita tried to calm her down, Shirou glanced over at Fitoria. "That what this was about? You wanted to see if Firo was able to take over your position? To carry on your work."

"In a way." Fitoria admitted with a nod.

"…How long have you been carrying on their last wish?" Shirou asked with a sympathetic look.

"Long enough that I can't even remember why I am doing it, or if I ever really cared." Fitoria said. Her face momentarily fell into a look of pure misery. It was a look that Shirou had only ever seen before on Archer, when the man admitted to his own hypocrisy, and that his dreams weren't even his own and that he never believed in them. The horrors of longevity and the things it does to people. "I can't even remember the names or faces of those heroes who had raised me. And the things I have done to carry on their will can never be taken back."

Shirou stiffened as the God actual started to cry. Hesitantly, Shirou reached a hand up and started to pat her head, trying to comfort her down. "Fitoria, where is it that you live?" Shirou asked her, causing Fitoria to look up in surprise. "Even a Hero occasionally needs rest. I thought when that time comes, we might be able to visit you. If you would be so inclined."

Fitoria smiled sadly and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Hero. But for the sake of my duty, I can't let myself become attached to you. Not yet. But if you survive long enough, we will meet again."

"Sounds good. We'll have a feast." Shirou said with a bit of a smile himself. "Take care of yourself, Fitoria."

"And you as well, Sword Hero. The World depends on it." Fitoria said, before turning and walking away, returning to her full, monstrous size as she and the rest of her Filolial disappeared into the mist. Shirou smiled as he watched her go, until the mist started to clear.

"God dammit." Shirou swore as he looked around the now relieved field in front of them to see what was probably the Siltvelt army standing there, weapons raised.

He should have asked Fitoria for a lift out of there.

* * *

 **Someone asked how Azu went from a lvl 5 to a lvl 40 in just that one battle. She was sharing experience with them when Shirou nuked 40,000 monsters at once. The total EXP earned would exceed what they got from the Mutant Griffin.**

 **Also, the Blessing of the Bird God just gave Firo another considerable stat boost, because she so needed that. (The words stupidly overpowered barely even cut it anymore.)**

* * *

 **Decided for a new running gag, in that all dog monsters and dog demihumans all hate/distrust Shirou on sight as part of a curse left behind by Lancer out of jealousy that Shirou got all the girls. Thus cementing Shirou's status as a cat person. (Note that while foxes are canines, a god of hunting dogs would probably not have them count.)**

 **The Army not noticing that Shirou is just wearing a wig might straight the suspension of disbelief a little, but just go with it.**


	17. Chapter 17

'This is why I am a cat person.' Shirou thought as he struggled to resist the urge to punch the demihuman husky who was currently snarling at him. The two of their faces were so close that Shirou had to deal with the bastard's disgusting breath, and the guy looked like he seriously wanted to try to bite Shirou's face off.

"I already told you, my companies and I are mercenaries. We were heading towards the capital in order to try to get a job working for whichever Hero was summoned when we stumbled across the Wave and decided to help. That is when the Filolial Queen appeared and dealt with the wave herself, as evidenced by the fog and the foot prints she left behind." Shirou said, keeping his tone neutral. "I fail to see what we have done to have earned this kind of treatment."

"And I keep telling you that I don't believe a word you say!" The Demihuman shouted at Shirou, grabbing onto his coat and shaking him for what must have been the fifteenth time.

They had been at this for almost an hour, and even Rita was starting to look less concerned and more bored. Firo and Azu had fallen asleep a while ago and where now leaving up against each other. The fact that the two girls were now around the same height, and that Azu's long dress only reached her knees was tipping Shirou off to the fact that the girl was starting to grow as well. He'd need to find new clothes for the girl. Perhaps he had something in his list of drops that would be the right size.

Problem was that the dropped items weren't always one size fits all and he hadn't seen any underwear go by. He supposed he could project a pair of panties and a bra for the girl but going through the mental exercise needed to do so would make Shirou feel like a disgusting bastard.

"Hey, are you listening!?" The military captain shouted, spit flying into Shirou's face.

"No. Not really." Shirou admitted. Might as well. Wasn't like he would be able to get the guy to stop hating him anyways.

Despite all of the dog related things that Shirou was often called, mainly bloodhound and lapdog, Shirou actually had a very bad affinity for the supposable domesticated creatures.

It was shortly after the Holy Grail War that Shirou started to notice that dogs, especially Irish wolf hounds, had started to seriously dislike him, with even the most docile and well trained of the species giving it their all to bite off Shirou's leg at first sighting of him.

The root of the problem seemed obvious enough to him. Lancer, or Cu Chulann, was basically a patron god of war hounds, and the two of them hadn't exactly gotten along. In fact, Shirou was pretty sure there was never a single instance of the two of them getting along in the entirety of the multiverse. Rin joked that Lancer had been jealous that Shirou had all the luck when it came to women and placed a curse on him. Shirou didn't doubt it. Over the last five years, Shirou had learned to loathe his meetings with dogs, and the feeling was mutual. Luckily all of his housemates were in the cat person camp as well, especially Illya who hadn't forgotten being nearly eaten alive by a pack of wolves. She hated the creatures even more than Shirou did.

Now faced with someone who was part dog and part man, Shirou could say with certainty that the curse carried over to demihumans of the mutt variety.

"What kind of mercenary walks around with nothing but a treasure trove of unmarked enchanted weaponry?" The dog 'asked' Shirou. "We had our smiths look at your equipment. Those weapons the girl was carrying, the spear, sword, knife and bow, they are worth thirty thousand gold coins. While you were holding nothing but a plain set of short swords. None of it had any indication of what blacksmith created it, which stinks of illegal activity."

"Thirty thousand gold?" Rita repeated, giving Shirou a startled look. "Sensei, was it really worth…"

"Of course not. He's low balling it. The spear alone is worth more than that. I wouldn't allow my student to walk around with inferior gear." Shirou said with a shrug. "By the way, we will be wanting all that back when this is over." The dog glared at his response.

Shirou didn't really need any of it back. They hadn't taken anything away from them that Shirou couldn't trace a new copy of or didn't need to be replaced anyways. Such as Rita's old clothes, which were now too small for her. When they had come to take Shirou's equipment, he had managed to give them a traced copy of the original daggers, while storing Jian in her 'Sword Belt' form around his waist.

They could have teleported out of there at any moment, however that would likely cause serious problems for Nico and his township. Shirou had been waiting for the man's superior to show up and kick the idiot out, but whoever it was in charge was taking his sweet ass time getting there.

"Sir please, I don't understand what we did wrong. Surely there is no need to…" Nico tried to be diplomatic about it, but the military man wasn't having any of it.

"Quiet you. Don't think that just because you are from noble linage means you can squeeze your way out of this one. I know exactly who you are." The dog said, giving the old bird a look of distain. "You are the beggar lord of that town of filthy mongrels."

Nico's pleading expression momentarily broken, as rage entered his eyes. Mongrel was a horrible racial slur for someone of mixed blood, and hearing the word was a trigger for the old man.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, it was also a trigger word for Shirou. Shirou barely even registered the moment of his own hand grabbed the man's throat, casually lifted him up. "Sorry, what was that you called me?" Shirou said, with a cold smile. The dog's eyes widened as the three other men in the room drew weapons, but Shirou wasn't worried. He could easily take all of them, the whole army garrison, by himself if need be, as the entire army didn't seem to have anyone over level fifty. This was if he didn't just decide to teleport out. He wasn't about to let some dog call him mongrel.

He hadn't been paying enough attention to realize that he hadn't been called mongrel.

Luckily for the Siltvelt army, the situation didn't escalate any further. "Put your swords away! Captain Ratica, what is going on?" A red-haired man with the same demihuman features as Nico asked as he entered the little integration tent. Shirou let go of the dog's neck so that he could speak.

"This… this man is dangerous! He attacked me!" The still nameless dog said, pointing at Shirou as he backed away in fear.

"If he wanted to, he would have simply killed you, you damned fool. I told you to watch them and take care of there needs until I was through with the damage evaluations. Yet I come back here to see that you have antagonized them." The superior said, glaring at the dog.

"But Commander Kistler..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Just be quiet and watch." The Shusaku Demihuman said, before turning to face Nico. "It has been a long time, Nico. Never imagined I would see you anywhere close to a battle field. You were always more of a lover than a fighter."

"Representative." Nico said, bowing his balding head. 'Representative' was something akin to an elder, and a station of honor among demihumans. Though it was rarely given to the oldest individuals within the clans, but instead to the strongest and most charismatic. The average clan would have as many as forty representatives to represent them in political matters.

This was Shirou's understanding of things from the brief explanation that Nico had given him about Clan politics and who not to piss off. The man and Nico might have been from the same race, but he looked like he was only thirty or so years old, so he might have been born just before Nico was removed from the clan. As Shirou thought about it, the man was probably younger than he looked, as he would have aged by leveling.

"Well, are you not going to introduce me to your companions?" The man said with a small smile.

"Of course. This is David Fröhlich Feuchtwanger Karl Kistler, one of the representatives of the Shusaku clan." Nico said, gesturing towards the man. Shirou had to stop himself from snorting. That was some name the guy had. "David, this is Shirou, a mercenary from Shildfrieden who has recently assisted me in gathering materials for my research. The two with him are Rita Aselia, a freed slave from Melromarc who he has taken as his apprentice, and Firo, a Royal Filolial."

"A half-blooded Hakuko mercenary, a freed Melromarc slave, and a Royal Filolial that can take on demihuman form. Such an interesting group, and one capable of driving back an entire Wave by themselves, even if it was truly the Legendary Fitoria that defeated it. I'm impressed." David said as he took a seat across from the party. "Let's cut straight to the point. I want to hire you for a job."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Recently, the Four Legendary Heroes were summoned in Melromarc and from our reports, the Shield Hero has been convicted there under allegations of raping his only party member." David said, shocking the members of the party who were actually paying attention.

"…What was the evidence like?" Shirou asked. While even an idiot could tell that something wasn't quite right, Shirou couldn't completely dismiss the possibility that the man had really done it.

"Rumors are mixed, which leads us to believe that there was none at all." David said with a shake of the head. "Not that it matters. With the allegations alone, the entire country seems to have jumped at the opportunity to make his life hell. He was thrown out into the streets, penniless and without any allies, still expected to fight in the Waves. From what I gather, he hasn't been able to level properly, as he lacks a means of doing damage. Siltvelt and Shildfrieden have sent assistance to try and help him, but the Shield Hero has become so paranoid that he wasn't accept help from anyone. Which makes sense, since some of the people approaching him really are out to get him."

"I see. Just to make sure we are understanding you properly, what do you want us to do?" Shirou asked.

"I want you to help the Shield Hero, even if he doesn't want your help. Stick him in a sack and carry him to the dungeon if you have to. Just make sure he is ready to survive when the Waves come." David said clearly. "I can tell that you aren't the kind to be taken lightly, even if Melromarc did try to snuff you out or stop you. You don't need to stick with the Shield Hero forever, or ever mention that someone sent you. Just getting him on his feet will be good enough."

So, they didn't want Shirou to kidnap the man and bring him back to their country, or work to create a lasting connection between them. Shirou figured as much after the conversation with Nico before. While David was completely aware of just how important the Shield Hero is for fighting the Waves and not getting the faithful common people of his country stirred up for a war, he didn't want the Hero butting in on local politics. A strong hero was good, so long as they stuck to killing monsters.

Still, Shirou smiled. "I think we can work something out, on two conditions. First, I want my equipment returned to us. Second, these three girls have reached level 40, and are in need of undergoing Class Up. If you can arrange those two things, then we will take care of this problem with the Shield Hero."

Jian had explained to Shirou that level 40 was a sort of cap level which you couldn't level up past until after you do something called 'Class Up' which was some kind of class system similar to the one used in the Holy Grail War's hero summoning which would determine what kind of class bonuses the girls would get. As a Legendary Hero, Shirou had no such restriction on his leveling, but he also wouldn't get the bonuses from Class Up either.

Since Class Up had to be done at the Dragon Hourglass, Shirou could kill two birds with one stone.

"…It might take a day or two to get permission to visit the Dragon's Hourglass." David said, glancing at Azu. "She's reached level 40 as well?"

"She forced herself into our party before the battle began and grew levels faster than you would believe. Dragon's blood, I suppose." Shirou said with a shrug. Trying to explain away just how someone could possibly grow levels so fast.

"I suppose so. I'll make the arrangements for you to get your things and send word so that you can see the Hourglass tomorrow. We will also have to gather supplies for your trip. If you leave tomorrow night, you should be able to reach the Melromarc capital in four days, if you hurry. That will leave fifteen days until the Wave in Melromarc hits. Will that be enough time for you to bring the Shield Hero up to snuff?" David asked.

"I could do it in two."

* * *

"I'm sorry, but in order to fulfill my word to Fitoria, Azu is going to have to travel with us. I promise I will do my best to keep her safe." Shirou said to Nico as the man was preparing to go back to his town, all of the soon-to-be former slaves they had saved standing with him.

The dog had been pale when he had returned to David and Shirou to report that Shirou's party's weaponry had all gone missing. David had quickly offered to compensate for their lose and then choked when he had heard just how much the weapons had been estimated to be worth.

Shirou, being the gracious man that he was, said that he would forgive the loss, if they had paid to have ownership of the slaves transferred to him, along with some wagons and Filolial in order to transport them all. Shirou was going to send the slaves, along with the small payment of one hundred gold coins he had received for protecting the town, back to Nico's home where they would be released, given enough money to get on their feet and either left to leave the town or make a life there. When he had told them this, the slaves had been slack jawed.

"Yes, I know. Thank you for taking care of her." Nico said, trying to keep the worry from his voice.

"Since we have the ability to teleport into your house, you don't have to worry about not being able to see her every now and then. You'll get regular check in." Shirou said with a smile.

"Well, that does set an old man's heart at ease." Nico chuckled he then urged the Filolial pulling his wagon forward. "Take care, Hero-sama."

Shirou sighed and shook his head before returning to the tent supplied to him and his party, as it was getting late. While decency would normally require Shirou to have a separate tent from the girls, paranoid demanded that he not leave them alone in such surroundings.

The tent was rather large, as they were being treated as VIPs after the whole dog incident was taken care of, so there was no problem in all of them fitting inside of the tent together.

Shirou pushed through the opening and looked inside to see Azu laying on her back, arms spread eagle with a pained look on her face. Her clothes had been removed, as they were becoming far too small for her, and a blanket was spread over her body. Rita and even Firo were trying to comfort her in her misery.

*Growl*

"So hungry." The girl whimpered. Shirou quickly brought more of Jian's meat out from his sword 'utility belt' and handed it over to Rita who started to feed it to Azu.

"She's already ate everything you left with us earlier, but she's still hungry. The poor thing has grown over a foot in the last two hours alone." Rita said as she put the meat to the girl's mouth. While Rita's aging had been relatively slow, growing by about a year every other day, the eight-year-old girl now looked to be fourteen after just five hours. Her growth had been slowly accelerating over the last few hours and was starting to get out of hand. "Her dragon's blood along with the leveling is causing her to grow faster than even demihumans are supposed to. Her entire body seems to be having mild growing pains."

"Hey Azu, how you feeling?" Shirou asked as he lowered himself to the ground next to her.

"Bad." Azu answered simply.

"Her growth will probably end in another two or three hours, but even after that, it won't be a very good night for her." Shirou said sympathetically. They would also need to think about what to do about clothing her, that thin blanket wasn't going to stop her from getting a cold and Shirou didn't know if this accelerated growth thing would make her prone to sickness or not. "Jian, what kind of clothes do we have that won't cause problems with Azu's growth?"

[Lion Plushy: Very High Quality: Defense Up (Large), Impact Resistance (Small), Slash Resistance (Large), Thrusting Resistance (Medium), Dark Resistance (Small), HP Restoration (Medium), Magic Amplify (Small), Autonomous Repair, Size Correction, Skill Correction (Small), Race Change – Lion Monster]

"Lion Plushy?" Shirou said with a raised eyebrow. Out of Jian's crystal came a large lion costume with a hole where the mouth was that would reveal the wearer's face. The stats on the thing were insanely high. If Shirou used his reinforcement magic to boost its properties, it would far outstrip even his own equipment when it came to stopping nonmagical attacks. Shirou lifted the costume up and stared at the thing. "Well, it does have the size correction trait." He admitted. She wouldn't be able to go outside wearing it without drawing attention, but it could still cover her.

"Wow!" Firo said when she saw the costume. "So cool! Firo wants one too!"

"Ah…" Shirou said looking into Firo's sparking eyes. "Sure. Trace. On." Shirou quickly made a copy of the clothes and handed it over to Firo, before handing the original over to Rita. "This thing will change size as Azu does, so it will be something warm for her to wear tonight. I'm going to go outside for a moment, so could you help her put it on?"

"Alright." Rita said as she took the unusual thing from Shirou, leaving the man to make himself scarce.

* * *

Shirou sighed as he stood guard outside of the tent, his eyes moving over every single soldier that came within thirty feet of his position. Most were just passing by and didn't give Shirou a second glance, and those who did and recognized him from the rumors hurried along even faster.

With little else to do, he was left to thinking over the resent bit of information he had been given about the Shield Hero's dilemma. No one could say that he hadn't warned the others about the dangers of backstabbing governments, extremist religious cults and traitorous women. The behavior of the king, the way none of the adventurers would go with Naofumi immediately, and how the woman was acting, all of them were clear signs of something being slightly off.

Still, there was always the chance that Naofumi was actually guilty. After all, Shirou hadn't believed that Shinji had it in him to hurt his little sister, adoptive or otherwise. How wrong he had been.

Not that it would really matter if he was guilty or wasn't. Shirou wouldn't leave the man to dead in the Waves, even if he was a vile bastard. At the end of the day, saints and sinner, all men pray for salvation. If it was within Shirou's power to give it, who was he to decide who was deserving?

He'd give the guy a good hard kick in the dick though if he really had raped that woman.

"Alright Sensei, it's safe to come back inside." Rita said from within the tent.

"Alright, I'm coming in." Shirou said, turning around and slipping into the tent.

"Gaoooo, Firo is a lion! Give Firo meat!" Firo said, holding up her arms and grinning toothily. The lion costume seemed to have changed itself to allow for Firo's wings to stick out the back and she really did look adorable. Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

Though for some reason the entire thing reminded him of Saber. Perhaps because he had always equated Saber with lions and because Firo had the same blond hair.

"You look really cute, Firo." Shirou said, patting the girl on the head and bringing some food out for her, which Firo happily took.

"Yeah, Firo really likes it!" Firo said, nodding her head and causing the mane to shake around. "But for some reason, Firo feels a lot weaker while she's wearing it."

Shirou frowned and glanced over at Firo's stats list. Sure enough, Firo's stats had all dropped by almost 40%. It seems as though the stat boosts she gained from the Filolial series weapons weren't affecting her anymore. Her race had been changed from Filolial Queen to Lion Monster.

"Firo will just use it as pajamas then." The little girl declared, before shoving a fistful of dried meat into her mouth.

"Sounds good." Shirou said before moving on to Azu. "How is it for you?"

"Really comfortable. Body doesn't hurt so much anymore." Azu said as she stretched herself out like a cat inside of the costume. Her race had also changed to being Lion Monster instead of Dragon Hybrid. Shirou wondered if it was the race change or the HP regeneration that was making the process easier on her body. Didn't really matter, so long as she was comfortable.

"Alright you three, it's getting late. You all get some sleep. I'll be keeping watch for tonight." Shirou told them, waving them off to bed.

"Keep watch?" Rita repeated, not understanding Shirou.

"We are in unfamiliar territory surrounded by people who we don't know and with unknown intentions. Of course I am going to keep watch." Shirou said with a sly smile.

"Sensei, exhaustion is the enemy. You shouldn't stay up all night. We can take shifts." Rita insisted.

Shirou blinked at her for a moment before breaking into snorts of laughter. "You are learning quickly, my apprentice." She hadn't even argued with him about paranoid and merely tried to take on some of the burden of their precautions. "I'll wake you in four hours." Shirou said calmly.

"…Will you really?" Rita asked, her voice full of suspicion.

"Yes, really." Shirou chuckled. "Just get some sleep."

"Alright Sensei." Rita said before going to lay down on the mats they had been provided, cuddling up between Firo and Azu.

Shirou removed Jian and preceded to copy more weapons into her arsenal late into the night.

Four hours passed, and he didn't wake Rita up.

* * *

 **People are asking how Fitoria can possible know about Beast of Gaia and are complaining about how this is breaking their immersion.**

 **Seriously? That is what breaks you suspension of disbelief? A thousands of years old God knowing that the World is a conscious entity is unrealistic. Or that a race that can speak and read every language in their world from the moment they are born could know that Shirou uses the term Beast of Gaia to describe these creatures.**

 **Come on people, some suspension of disbelief would be appreciated.**

 **How am I suppose to write if you nitpick about everything?**

* * *

 **People have also been complaining that I haven't had enough Naofumi in the story. The same people who bitched before I had Shirou go off saying that I was just following the canon.**

 **Fine, I sped up Shirou going back. Are you happy now?**

 **Of course not. Nothing would please you people.**


	18. Chapter 18

"Pivoted your body more. Don't plant your feet, stay on your toes." Shirou instructed Firo as they sparred at the training grounds of the Siltvelt National Army. They had arrived early in the capital early in the afternoon, and while Rita and Azu went to shop for new clothes, Shirou stocked up on some needed supplies before taking the opportunity to teach Firo a little more about fighting in both her human and bird forms.

He had been doing his best to impart onto her his knowledge of how to take advantage of momentum tricks and air flow techniques. Though he honestly didn't know how much of what he said she understood. In the end, she was someone who learned from doing rather than having it explained to her, so Shirou introduced her to the more gentle version of Saber's School of Touch Love.

The rate she was improving was impressive. Still, Shirou worried that instinct, even unnaturally sharp instinct like Firo's, could only carry her so far and that her overly aggressive fighting style might get her hurt. Her stats were higher than his were by a small margin, but she still couldn't lay a hit on him, even while he was unarmed.

Shirou stepped out of the way of one of Firo's jabs, grabbing the punch and using her own forward momentum to toss her up into the air. Firo then had to recover by spreading out her arms and wings and controlling the air flow around her, leaving her open. Shirou closed the gap while Firo was still trying to regain her balance and gave her a flick to the forehead. Concentration disrupted, her own wind knocked her off balance and sent her tumbling to the ground.

"Don't follow through with a punch unless your other arm is ready for a follow up, and next time you need to recover in the air, either don't use your hands to balance or use your feet to guard yourself instead. You can't just dangle there with your entire body wide open." Shirou scolded her as she got up.

"Firo will try." Firo said before jumping up into the air above Shirou, transforming into her bird form and dropping a huge kick down onto him.

The set up was large, and Shirou got out of the way, but when he went for the counterattack, Firo's body shank in order to dodge his hit. She then lunged at him at full speed. Shirou side stepped the punch and brought his arm around for a light hit to the girl's side, only for Firo to twist herself in the air by shaping her wings and spun out of range of the attack. She hadn't gotten the balance quite right and didn't land on her feet, but it had been a creative dodge none-the-less.

"Not bad." Shirou admitted with a smile, though Firo didn't see it. She was rushing away from Shirou as fast as her legs would carry her. Then after gaining the distance of a soccer field, she turned around, transformed back into her bird form again, and rushed at Shirou and full speed. Her wings were spread out, with wind being manipulated over them in order to push her down, allowing her more traction and more speed. The air was ripped apart as with a few dozen feet, Firo had breached the sound barrier.

Shirou waited until the last moment before shifting out of the way, ducking under her outstretched wing and pushing up on it with a good deal of force.

The wind current was punctured, Firo's balanced was thrown off, and her own speed sent her sailing through the air until she transformed back into her human form, where her more limited weight made it easier to burn off her extra momentum and regain control.

Shirou was impressed. She even landed on her feet. Shirou though she would be prepared for more, but sadly it wasn't to be. "Master, all this transforming is making Firo hungry! Can we eat now?" The girl said, putting her hands to her stomach.

Shirou just chuckled as he lowered his own arms. "Fine. You've earned a break. Let's go find the mess hall."

"Yeah!" Firo cheered in excitement. The two of them walked towards the mess, ignoring the shocked and frightened looks of the soldiers they passed along the way.

If they were frightened now, just wait until she started eating.

* * *

Firo had eat her normal fifty-pound snack and was starting to get comfortable when Rita and Azu arrived.

"I thought we would find you two here." Rita chuckled as she saw the plates stacked to either side of Firo.

"Welcome back, how did it go?" Shirou asked.

"Well, why don't you tell me?" Rita said, putting her arms behind her back and standing there for Shirou to judge her new casual wear.

While Siltvelt was further to the south, it bordered the ocean, making the temperature relatively pleasant year-round. Because of this, their clothes weren't necessarily meant to deal with extreme heat or cold. The thinner material looked soft and cool. While Shirou wouldn't dare allow them to wear such things on the battlefield, there was no harm in letting them be comfortable during their everyday activities. Though Shirou had been forced to make this point clear to Rita before they left, as she was planning to buy leather armor for the two.

Not that there was anything wrong with leathers, but they weren't exactly comfortable and wore through a lot faster than linen cloth. They were also a greater pain to clean. Besides, no one would expect normal clothes to carry enchantments, giving you the element of surprise. Shirou could turn just about any cloth into something that could stop bullets.

That said, there was one thing Shirou was a little uncomfortable with. "They look very nice on you but… they are rather mature." Shirou said, choosing his words carefully. He'd been asked the question of 'how do I look' by some of the most powerful women in his world and had gained an appropriate level of caution for how he responded.

While she did have something equivalent to sweat shorts and a short black top on underneath the other clothes for decency, the rest of the clothes seemed meant to be rather attention grabbing. The frilly red outfit brought to mind the kind of things that idols wore on stage and was definitely attention grabbing, with the shirt revealing the girl's midriff and the skirt made in such a way so that it left one of the legs mostly uncovered.

"You don't like it?" Rita said, her face dropping in disappointment as she wrapped her arms around herself… dangerous.

"N…not at all. You're very cute. I'm just worried that other people might not be able to control themselves." Shirou said, trying to recover. "Well, I suppose you are strong enough to defend yourself if that happens."

Which was true. From what Shirou could gather from the histories of the weapons around him, hardly anyone ever reached level 40 and underwent Class Up. Considering the number of monsters required to grow 40 levels, it was only natural that few would have reached that milestone. The entirety of the army station had no more than twenty Class Upped individuals. Only three of them were above level 60, and even they were barely Rita's equal in terms of raw stats, even without her undergoing Class Up. The effects of Jian's stat and experience boosts were more than just impressive, they were downright cheating.

Azu was the one that Shirou should have been worrying about. After she had finished growing the previous night, she resembled a twenty-three-year-old woman, looking even more mature than Rita whose ageing had stopped at around nineteen. But she still had the same mind she had before, and she hadn't been all there to begin with. Strong as she was, she wouldn't know to defense herself, and while the light blue dress she had gotten was more tame, but it left the white scales on her shoulders and upper back exposed, and the dress had a lower cut than Shirou would approve of for a girl her age. With her shoulder length hair framing her face and her far out expression, she looked as though she belonged on the end of a misty peer. If you ignored the horns.

"I'd say so. I'm glad I haven't made enemies off you." David said as he approached, followed by three younger individuals of the same race. "Was that display in the training ground meant to be some kind of warning to us?"

"Maybe a little." Shirou admitted with a shrug. "Mercenaries are used to people trying to take advantage of them. No offense meant."

"None taken." David said with a laugh. "I thought I was strong, but clearly I have a long way to go. It makes me feel embarrassed to be called a Representative."

"Master is really strong! He killed this HUGE griffin in just one hit!" Firo said with cheer, stretching out her arms to show just how large the griffin was.

"Did he now?" David said nervously. Being level 52, David wasn't weak by any stretch of the imagination. But compared to Firo's insane power, he was practically a child, and in their spar, Shirou had been treating Firo like the child she was. It looked like the message he had sent was read loud and clear. 'Betray me, and you won't like what happens.' Such an atmosphere stopped them from asking questions that Shirou couldn't answer. "Now than, while it has been on a short notice, we have completed the preparations for your Class Up. If you would all be willing to follow me, I will take you to the Dragon's Hourglass and we can begin."

"Of course." Shirou said with a smile.

* * *

Shirou had expected the building housing the Dragon's Hourglass to be exactly the same as the one in Melromarc, or at least of similar architectural styles. So it had been a surprise to him when rather then a massive stone cathedral, similar to those built by the Christian Church, there was a more Egyptian style building carved out of the face of a mountain, which served as the house for the Siltvelt Hourglass.

It even had the statures and carvings of individuals who were part man and part animal… though they might have just been artists depictions of historical figures.

Shirou and company were led deep into the inner chambers, with the girls looking all around in amazement. "I never imagined I would ever get to Class Up." Rita whispered. Class Upped individuals were the top 1% of fighters. To go from a level 1 to one of the elite in just a week must have seemed like a dream.

[42:13:53]

The timer for the next Siltvelt Wave appeared as soon as Shirou caught sight of the massive Hourglass.

Forty-two days, thirteen hours, fifty-three minutes. So, they had almost a month and a half before the next wave started, and the Wave would begin in the middle of the night. That would be a pain in the ass when it came to making sure that none of the monsters got away to wreak havoc on the people. Even Shirou's eagle eyes could only see so far in the dead of night. He supposed it would depend on moonlight, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how full the moon was the previous night. Not that he knew the moon's cycle in this world anyways.

"Who will go first?" One of the temple workers asked, an elderly woman sporting a turtle shell on her back.

"Firo! Firo wants to go!" Firo said, jumping up and down with excitement. The old woman chuckled and led Firo forward to the Hourglass, which was in the center of a large magic circle made from grooves carved into the floor. The other workers then proceeded to pour some kind of liquid into the grooves.

"Alright child, all you need to do is touch the Hourglass and focus your will upon it." The old woman explained before leaving Firo alone in the circle.

Firo closed her eyes and concentrated her energy on the Hourglass until the liquid in the magic circle began to glow. "Ah, something popped up!" Firo said, though her eyes were still closed. She must have gotten a window in her Status Menu.

A moment later, Shirou got a pop up of his own, with a picture of Firo and a bunch of items connected to it.

Shirou was confused until Jian explained to him what was going on.

[As a Hero is the Monster's owner, a Hero can decide what path to choose for her Class Up. If a Hero wishes not to decide, then they may simply pass the right back to the Monster.]

"Hm… I see." Shirou muttered as he glanced over the list of items. He honestly didn't have a clue what he was doing, so he just sent the privilege of choosing back to Firo. "Firo, choose whatever you want."

"Alright!" Firo said happily. "Now, which one to pick."

"Are you sure that is wise?" David said.

"Firo's instincts as a Filolial Queen are better than you would believe. I trust that whatever decision she makes will be better for her than anything I could pick." Shirou said in order to justify his actions. Really, he was just clueless.

After a few moments, Firo made her next declaration. "Alright, Firo will pick the one that spits poison!"

"…I have made error." Shirou mumbled to himself. He had forgotten that while Firo had strong instincts, she also had the mind of a child, and like Illya would pick something that just seemed cool to her, if given a choice. As the circle began to glow with a golden light, the lock of hair planted by Fitoria glowed with it.

When the light died, Firo stood there, looking much the same as before. Maybe her stray lock of hair was a bit more shiny, but beyond that, Shirou couldn't tell.

"The Class Up was successful." The woman said with a nod.

Shirou glanced over at Firo's stats to see that the star was indeed go… and that all of Firo's stats had nearly doubled. Shirou nearly choked.

While before Firo was muscling her way into the E-rank territory for strength, endurance and speed, with almost a D-rank in magic, now she was a sold D-rank combatant with a mid C-rank in magic. Was this normal?

"Firo didn't get to pick." Firo said, seeming a little disappointed when she returned. "Firo wanted to be able to spit poison."

[A Class Up normally grants 20%~30% increase in Class related stats, with lesser bonuses offered to other stats. However, there do exist items and magics that can cause unusual Class Ups, depending on the strength of the item/magic.]

Shirou nodded his head in understanding. Fitoria had done something in order to change Firo's Class Up and make her even stronger. "It's alright Firo. You still did great." He said, patting the girl on the head, trying to cheer her up. "We'll find a way to celebrate everyone's Class Ups later. While that cheer you up?"

"Food?" Firo asked, her expression immediately lightening.

"Sure." Shirou chuckled.

While he had been distracted, Azu had walked up to the Hourglass and was preforming her own Class Up. The same glow occurred and Azu's horns shone bright in the center of the room, after which it was over.

Again the star next to her name disappeared and again the stats nearly doubled.

Huh?

Azu's white horns had turned a golden color and her hair was a bit more glossy when she stepped out of the circle. "Azu, what did you pick?" Rita asked the girl curiously.

"I didn't. Papa picked for me." Azu said in her simple way.

The Blessing of a Bird God and a Fragment of a Beast of Gaia. How frightening.

Shirou wasn't looking forward to telling Rita about this. She was already feeling a little overwhelmed by Firo and Azu's natural talents.

Rita walked up to the alter herself and placed her hand on the Hourglass. This time, as the magic circle glowed, both Firo's hair and Azu's horns began to give off light.

The light from the magic circle grew brighter and brighter and brighter still, until even closing one's eyes wasn't enough. Eventually, the liquid even started to crackle and steam.

"What's going on!?" "This has never happened before!" "Someone, stop the process!"

The workers panicked as the amount of energy grew. Both Firo and Azu were radiating power, which was mixing and fighting one another. The two opposing energy each seeming to wish to impart their own blessing. The golden light even started to turn red.

Then, with one final flash, the Class Up was over.

"Rita, are you alright!?" Shirou called through the steam.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm… oh wow." Rita said as the steam finally dissipated, leaving her standing there in front of them. Shirou sighed, glad that she was alright.

He looked her over, wanting to make sure that she wasn't hurt in any way. The blond hair on her head and tails had changed to a soft red color, and her skin was a bit more healthy than before, but she didn't have any signs of burns from the energy being thrown around.

…Wait, tails?

Shirou blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but the two fox tails remained. Then, Shirou took a glance at the girl's stats and nearly started laughing. While Firo and Azu's stats had almost doubled, Rita's had come close to tripling.

Of course, Shirou was cursed to forever be surrounded by grossly overpowered women.

* * *

After the Class Ups were over, David gave the Hakuko Mongrel the supplies he would need for the journey and sent him on his way. Hopefully now his headache could go away.

It had really seemed like a good idea at the time, using a small party of mercenaries with no political connection to any Guild, Clan or Country in order to deal with the problem of how to help the Shield Hero without disrupting the balance of power between the Clans or allowing those capitalist bastards in Shildfrieden get their mitts on him. He had seen the halfblooded Hakuko with his obviously human eyes and known that no matter what he did, he would never gain any standing in Siltvelt society.

The man hadn't even demanded money for the job, just wished for his party members to receive Class Ups. Which made sense, in a way. Each country strictly regulated who was and wasn't allowed to Class Up, as many Class Upped individuals were more powerful than normal people could handle. If you wanted to be allowed to Class Up, you needed connections, the kind of connections that mercenaries didn't have. For a mercenary, being given the chance to Class Up was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It wasn't until later that the Representative realized he might have bitten off more than he could comfortably chew.

When David heard just want kind of quality of weapons the man had given his apprentice, without any concern for his own equipment, he hadn't been able to believe it. All of the weapon experts they had brought to manage their equipment had sworn up and down that the quality of the weapons was beyond anything they had ever seen before, and that they must have been an experimental series from Zeltoble and worth as much as a small castle. It was no wonder the things were stolen. He had considered killing the Hakuko then and there just so they wouldn't have to pay for the things. Luckily, the fool seemed willing to let the thing go in exchange for a mere three hundred golds' worth of slaves, wagons and Filolials.

Still, what kind of insane person could afford to just let such weapons go? David had men searching everywhere trying to find those weapons, hoping to retrieve them for his own Clan, because of the kind of difference such weapons could make in his standings. Then again, this mercenary didn't seem to be right in the head, as he was going to be freeing the slaves that he got out of the deal anyways. It was like the man had no idea what mercenary even was and thought it was another name for a saint.

Then came his first displays of power, and David was left wondering just how high of a level this Shirou fellow was. Some of his confidants who had watched his training section with the rare Royal Filolial claimed that the man must have been at the very least a level 90, and since he was one of the Hakuko race, he could have been as high as level 120. This meant that he could possibly overpower the entire country's army by himself if he so chose.

Where the hell did this guy even come from? Sure David had heard that there were a few unknown and powerful hermits in the world who started to move as the Waves began, but this seemed like a bit much.

Even the Bird would have been difficult for them to handle. No one had believed him when he told them that the Bird was only level 40, or that it was really a Filolial. The shockwaves from the bird's movement alone were enough to cause nearby windows to shatter.

Then there was the Dragon Child, with her unnatural rate of leveling up. David hadn't originally believed them when they had told him she was level 40, but in the course of a single night she had grown into an adult woman. If she could go from being a low level to reaching Class Up in a single battle, how long would it be until she reached level 100? Would she try to take revenge for what happened to her mother and father? The Representative was just glad that it wasn't his Clan that would be first in the line of fire if she did.

And David had just allowed these two monstrosities to Class Up. Was he insane?

Well, it wasn't like he could have backed out. You don't back out of deals with someone like that Shirou fellow. He had made it perfectly clear that he expected David to honor his word. David could only laugh, as he had thought that he had been the one working from the position of power in their agreement.

Then came the surprise, the one individual in the party that he had barely noticed, the Kitsune girl. He had written her off as a slave that the man saved who he had taken in out of pity. He hadn't expected her to grow a second tail. It was almost surely a sign of the nine-tails beast transformation that had once made the Kitsune race known as the seventh most powerful species in the world.

David hoped that the Kitsune Clan never found out about her and her connection to these monstrous individuals. The balance of power in Siltvelt wouldn't survive it.

* * *

 **For anyone curious as to where these names come from, I use a random name generator and pick the one that is easiest for me to read. This is why the names I choose tend to be a bit on the shorter side.**

* * *

 **I didn't explicitly say it, because I thought it was obvious, but Shirou dismissed the weapons and that was why they disappeared. That's the joke, they are running around trying to find weapons that don't even exist.**


	19. Chapter 19

The beginning of the newest leg of their journey was painfully slow.

In order to smuggle them into Melromarc, they were 'hired' as escorts to a merchant who had an international license with each country. The problem was, this man really was a merchant, with a wagon full of merchandise that he didn't want broken by Firo breaking the sound barrier while pulling the cart. He also didn't see the possible end of the world as a good enough reason to get his hurry on and stop visiting with people along the way.

Because of this, and the random monster attacks, it took three whole days just to get into Melromarc.

Normally, Shirou would have just teleported the party across the border, and ignored the merchant, but their name was still connected to Nico, and discarding the script might come back to bite the poor old bird. It wasn't until the escort was over and they took a quick trip back to visit Nico and spend the night that Shirou started to relax and no longer worry for the old man's safety.

They woke up on the fourth day since the Siltvelt Wave, ready to face the day and finally make some progress.

Shirou had woken up early, as usual, and prepared everyone breakfast before sitting down to analyze the magic pendent he had been given by David for getting into Melromarc without fuss.

Hakuko apparently had a harder time in Melromarc than even normal Demihumans. In order to avoid making a scene, Shirou was given a magical item that would hide his Demihuman traits. Rita had broken down into giggles when the merchant commented that if he didn't know better, he would have said that Shirou really was a human. He hadn't even used to pendent, just changed his wig out again.

Still, it was an interesting piece and Shirou wondered if he could reverse engineer it and create something to hide Rita's second tail, as the girl was getting some wide eyed looks for it.

As he fiddled with the thing, trying to decipher its magic script, the door to the kitchen slowly opened and Azu entered, as silent as usual. "Good morning Azu. Feel free to take a seat and eat." Shirou told the girl.

"Sword hero." Azu said, her voice more forceful than usual, causing Shirou to pause. She didn't usually call him that. He gave the girl a quick glance to see if everything was alright.

Azu was still dressed in one of the lion plushies that she and Firo had taken to using as pajamas. In order to be able to distinguish whose was whose, Azu's had been dyed a bright blue color, while Firo kept her golden. Other than that, she seemed normal, until Shirou noticed that her eyes were a different color than normal. The golden of her eyes had changed to a deep rose color.

"Azu, are you feeling alright?" Shirou asked the girl, putting the magic item down on the table and turning to look at her.

"Sword Hero, you protected Azu from Fitoria's wrath, and for that, I wish to thank you." Azu… not-Azu, said as the girl's body slow walked forward, corning Shirou in his chair and starting to climb onto him.

"What are you doing!?" Shirou shouted in shock. Not sure what to do, and not wanting to jolt the girl in her dazed state out of fear of hurting her.

"Please, accept this part of my body as a father's thanks." The remains of the Dragon said, speaking through Azu's mouth as she reached towards Jian, a small orb appearing in her hand which Jian greedily absorbed.

[Dragon Series Unlocked]

[Replica Dragon Fragment: stored]

A set of weapon forms, identical to the Filolial Series unlocked by Fitoria's feather appeared in Shirou's weapon selection menu. Including the race bonuses, meaning a 60% boost to all of Azu's stats once they were mastered and awakened.

This done, Azu's eyes closed and she rested against Shirou's chest, her soft breasts pressed up against him… Shirou swallowed hard before lifting Azu off of him and placing her in a chair next to him. After that, he left the house.

…He needed some air.

* * *

Shirou dumped his head a bucket of cold water over and over again, trying to will himself back to a more normal state of body and mind.

It was encounters like that which reminded Shirou that he hadn't had sex in over two weeks, pushing three, and for a man that was used to being milked dry by a trio of extremely intense women, this was like an eternity. He felt like an alcoholic going through withdraw, while surrounded by unopened bottles of wine.

That said, he wasn't so weak willed that he would touch any of the girls… Shirou could almost see the next year of his life stretched out in front of him. How long would he last?

The fact that Azu's father apparently was still in some way alive inside of her barely even registered. That wasn't a good sign. It wasn't like it was all too shocking though. Shirou had suspected when Azu had stated that her father had been the one to pick her Class Up for her. Fitoria probably knew as well, and considering she hadn't been overly concerned, as she allowed Shirou to watch over the girl, it probably wasn't anything to worry about.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Rita called out from the door to the house as Shirou pulled his head from the water.

"Ah… yes, its nothing. Just trying to clear my head a little." Shirou said, shaking the water from his hair. He'd retrace his clothes to get rid of the water the moment he was along and the wig once his hair was dry. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes Sensei. I was wondering if there would be time to make a stop by the village where we meet before going on to the capital." Rita asked Shirou. "I want to tell them that everyone made it to safety, and that they don't have to worry."

"Well sure. I don't see why not. It would probably be better to teleport to a place away from the capital anyways, and the village is only around a two-hour ride with Firo pulling the carriage." Shirou said, gesturing towards the carriage that he had spent the night before carving runes into to help withstand Firo's boosted speed. It had been one of the carriages they had gotten for transporting the freed slaves, the one that was in the best condition.

"Thank you, Sensei." Rita said, bowing to Shirou. "I know that your mission is important and that we have already wasted time, but… I…"

"You know you don't have to be so formal with me, right? If you feel like you need to do this, then we will make the time." Shirou told her. "I might be a hypocrite for saying this, but you could stand to be a little more selfish."

"What are you talking about? I'm always getting in your way." Rita mumbled. "When you should have been taking care of yourself, you've been teaching me how to use weapons, or how to read magic script."

"Which you only want to know how to do so that you can help." Shirou said giving the girl a pat on the head. "Regret is the enemy. One that I have seen it break the strongest of heroes. So if you need to do something to put your heart at ease, just do it."

"My… my hear… heart." Rita stammered, a shiver going up her spin, her cheeks starting to flush.

"Are you cold? The morning air is a bit chilly. We should probably go inside." Shirou said walking past her. "After everyone's done eating, we'll transport out of here and back to Melromarc."

"Ah… yes Sensei." Rita said before following after Shirou. Shirou reached the kitchen and found that all the food he had prepared was already gone, and that Firo was asleep on the table, still in her lion pajamas.

"Gaooo. So tastily." She mumbled in her sleep as she turned over and fell of the table and onto the floor, laying spread eagle on the ground.

"…I'll make more."

* * *

"Shirou-sama?" The village head said with shock as Shirou and company rode into town. Several other people stopped their repairs to gather around asking for news.

"Shirou-sama, please tell us, what happened to the children?" "What took you so long?" "Are the Demihuman kids safe?" "Why aren't the children with you?"

"Everyone, it's fine. Sensei rescued us and brought everyone safely to Siltvelt." Rita said, trying to calm the crowd down.

This caused even more disbelief when the village head's wife recognized Rita's voice. "Rita? Is that you child? Good heavens, what happened? You look so… so different."

"Ah… It had been an eventful two weeks." Rita admitted weakly, scratching the back of her head.

* * *

Shirou was working to repair the damage to one of the sheds as Rita caught up with her old neighbors and assured them that everything was alright, telling them an abridged version of their adventures that didn't contain the fact that Shirou was the Hero of the Sword. Even so, with all the things that happened, the villagers were shell shocked by the end of it.

Shirou, not one to be comfortable around crowds, left it to Rita, while he just helped out around the village in any small way he could. Firo had returned to her more human form and she and Azu were playing with the other children.

"There we go. That should hold up." Shirou said as he tested the new boards of the barn's wall. He discreetly lowered the oddly sword shaped hammer out of sight before letting Jian return to her usual hiding form in his two scabbards.

"Sensei." Rita said, as she approached. "I'm done now and ready to go."

Shirou watched her for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "Don't try to keep it bottled up. Tell me what happened." Shirou said. He could see the way her expression was struggling to figure out what it wanted to do, leaving her entire body tense. The classic signs of someone consciously wanting to mask their feelings but lacking the knowledge of how.

Rita opened her mouth, probably prepared to deny that anything was wrong before sighing. "For someone so dense, Sensei is awfully perceptive." She said before talking a deep breath. "Patrick, the man who told the slavers where to find us, he killed himself."

"Ah. I see." Shirou said with an awkward nod. He thought that this might happen, and he had figured that this would be the girl's response.

Rita had ever reason in the world to hate the man. If she had wanted him dead, no one would have blamed her. However, the villagers had been confused when she was genuinely saddened by the man's death. But even if they didn't understand, Shirou did. The desire to not allow anyone to die, even those who had wronged you and the people you loved horrible. Shirou had lost sleep over Shinji, even after everything that the bastard did to deceive his fate.

It wasn't because of the friendship that had once existed between them. It had only been because Shinji had been a living person, and that he died because Shirou didn't know what was going on. Because he was too much of a fool to read between the lines and hear Sakura's cry for help.

It had taken a few good hits from Rin and a talking to by Rider to get Shirou out of his funk.

"Maybe if I had comeback sooner, then…" Rita started, but then stopped as Shirou started to pat her head.

"Take my advice Rita, and don't dwell on it." Shirou said, trying to calm her down. "You need to understand that no one, not even beings as powerful as Fitoria, can save everyone. People will die, and when it happens, the only thing we can do is try to accept it and move on."

"…I'll try, Sensei." Rita said, try to shake herself before looking up at Shirou. "Alright, we should keep moving."

Shirou smiled. "That's the spirits."

"No, I mean we really need to get moving. It's already midafternoon." Rita said.

Shirou blinked and looked at the clock in his Status Menu. "Huh, time flies when you're at work." He mumbled. "Let's grab Firo and Azu and will head out."

* * *

Shirou sat and the front of the carriage with Rita and Azu on either side of him as Firo pulled them along. They had only been going for an hour and a half, but they were making good time and with Firo's speed and the lack of monster encounters, Shirou suspected they would reach the city in just another half hour.

"Listen up you three. While we are supposed to be helping the Shield Hero level up, I'm not going to be able to help. The Legendary Weapons compete with one and other for the help of the World, so if we are too close together, we no long gain the bonus experience that helps us quickly level up. So I'm going to be counting on you three for this." Shirou explained to them.

"What, but Firo wants to stay with Master." Firo complained as she dragged them along. Azu also grabbed onto Shirou's arm and made a face, saying that she didn't want to separate either.

"It will only be for one day. I promise that I'll make it up to you." Shirou said with a smile. "I'll be sure to by lots of yummy ingredients to make you food with."

"Yeah!" Firo cheered. Azu also looked a bit thoughtful about it before letting go of Shirou's arm.

"Fighting without Sensei… Are you sure we will be alright?" Rita asked.

"The dungeon we've been pointed too is supposed to be for adventuring parties above level 30. Each of you has higher stats than I do, so the monsters there shouldn't be any threat at all." Shirou told them. Really, Shirou was more concerned about the Shield Hero himself.

"Sensei, you met the Shield Hero, right? What was he like?" Rita asked, sounding a little embarrassed about it. Made sense. Demihumans seemed to have a sort of worship for the Shield Hero. Wouldn't surprise Shirou if the name was semantic with Prince Charming to them.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I only met him for a short period of time, when we were all summoned. He seemed like a normal guy, but I have no idea if that was an act or not. I certainly didn't tell anyone the truth about me while we were there, and I kind of assumed that the other heroes did the same, though I don't know." Shirou admitted. "To be honest, I have no idea what he is capable of. I still find the news that he is lagging behind in levels to be a bit of a surprise."

"But, with the Shield Hero being a low level, and unable to wield any damaging weapons, isn't it only natural that he have a hard time with leveling up?" Rita asked.

"Normal logic would say so, but we are dealing with a hero here. Not someone of this world. You can't use your normal common sense." Shirou said giving Rita a look. "For example, in a fight between you as you are right now, and me when I was level one and without the Legendary Holy Sword, who do you think would win?"

"Ah! Sensei, that would hardly be a far fight." Rita said with wide eyes.

"You're right. I would have destroyed you." Shirou said, shocking Rita. "Strong as you have become, I have fought stronger in my previous world. My most regular sparring partner has double your current strength and more than triple your speed."

"That's… wow." Rita said, her hands shifting along the recreated spear that Shirou had given her.

"Don't get me wrong. In thirty or so levels you will reach a point were even I would have lost simply because of the sheer gap in strength, but the skills and abilities I had in my previous world weren't anything to laugh at." Shirou said with a reassuring smile. "I doubt I was picked to be the Sword Hero completely at random, and I would assume that the other Heroes are the same way. Which is why hearing that the Shield Hero is having a hard time perplexes me. It could be that, just like me, he is finding his old skills are conflicting with the Legendary Weapons' rules."

"You think that he's faking it?" Rita asked.

"If he is, I should be able to know at first sight. But if he isn't, then we should help him." Shirou said, before he straightened up in his seat. "Speak of the devil."

If it hadn't been for the Legendary Shield, Shirou wouldn't have been able to recognize Naofumi as he walked along the side of the road. His shirt and pants were little more than torn rags, with the only half decent people of clothing on him being a mossy green cloak. Even when placed next to your average peasant, he would be a sorry sight. While Shirou couldn't read deep into the Legendary Shield, beyond the current form it was using, he could still make out Naofumi's level. The man had only grown to level 7.

Standing at his side was a demihuman girl, a child with a raccoon's tail and ears. The child was dressed in second hand padded armor, though they were still far nicer than what Naofumi himself had on. Even from a distance, Shirou could see the knife at her belt. It was freshly block, and its history told Shirou that the girl was a level 8 and that her name was Raphtalia. It also told him that she was a slave.

The knife had been meant for skinning, but the girl had been using it to kill monsters. Even if it was of a good make, three days of being driven into leathery hides and bones had caused it to snap. But in those three days, the girl had not sustained an attack by a monster even once.

As they approached, Shirou signaled to Firo to slow down.

Hearing their carriage, Naofumi tensed and turned his head to look at them with a pair of eyes that made Rita gasp. Even Shirou grimaced at the sight. Before the young man had looked like a clueless every man, now he radiated pure hatred. Still, as Shirou's eyes were drawn once again the girl, who merely seemed confused and a little uneasy, hugging a toy leather ball to her chest.

Naofumi seemed to recognize what Shirou was looking at. He stepped in front of girl, trying to block her from sight, at the same time dropping the bundle of monster pelts he had been carrying and lifting up his cloak to reveal a balloon looking monsters with very angry looking faces that were biting at his body. He reached for one of them as he glared at Shirou's party, as if to say that they should keep walking, or he would throw it at them.

Shirou only watched the young man, reading his eyes, his expression, his entire body language. He had seen this kind of behavior before, in the eyes of the truly desperate.

Shirou wanted to help this man.

The tension of the situations diminished when the small girl's stomach started to rumble. Earning a glance from Naofumi. "Again?" The man mumbled, though there was no heat or aggression of any kind in his voice.

"I… I'm sorry." Raphtalia flinched slightly, though Naofumi only sighed in response.

Then Firo's stomach growled, much louder and drawing everyone's attention. "Firo is hungry too. Master, can we eat now?" Firo asked, turning her head around to look at Shirou.

"It talks!?" Raphtalia said in amazement, though Naofumi raised his shield and looked at Firo with suspicion.

"Sure. I don't see why not." Shirou said before looking back and Naofumi. "Would you like to join us? We've got plenty of food to go around, even with hour much Firo here eats." Shirou invited them. Naofumi still looked suspicious, but as the child's stomach growled again, he ended up relenting.

"I'll be watching you. So don't try anything."

* * *

"Here you go." The white-haired man said as he handed a pair of plates to Naofumi and Raphtalia filled with skewers that he had prepared over a massive fire. The man had seemed to be under the impression that he was cooking for a hundred people, though since the massive bird creature of his turned into a little blond-haired girl had started to scarf the things down like popcorn, maybe that much was actually needed.

And he had thought that Raphtalia was becoming a big eater.

Saving the money it would cost to fill the girl up was the only reason Naofumi had agreed to eat with these people. Even though he didn't trust them one bit. They needed to save time and money where they could, if they were going to grow enough levels and buy enough equipment to survive the Wave.

Even so, Naofumi glared down at the meal when it was presented to him, unsure whether he trusted it or not. Raphtalia was watching him nervously. Experience told him that she wouldn't start eating her own food until after he started or gave her permission.

"It isn't poisoned, if that is what you are worried about, Mr. Shield Hero." The white-haired man said with a shake of the head, as if he was mocking Naofumi for his caution. He also revealed that he had known that Naofumi was the Shield Hero all along.

"Yeah, and why should I believe you on that?" Naofumi asked in an accusing tone.

Then, a heavy presence hit Naofumi and he flinched backwards, the monsters that had been trying their damnedest to bite him to death all fell away from his body, and by the looks of it, they didn't seem to be breathing. A dangerous glow was being admitted by the man's body as he looked at Naofumi with a smug expression.

The man had killed the monsters with nothing more than flexing his power. What kind of Dragon Orb X nonsense was that?

"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't waste good food on it." He said.

Naofumi got the message. This guy wasn't some random street merchant with no experience with monsters. He was a veteran fighter, and strong enough to kill Naofumi at any time if he so chose.

At least the food was safe to eat.

"Go ahead and eat." Naofumi said to Raphtalia as he took his first bite. The girl nodded and started to eat herself.

"SO GOOD!" Raphtalia half squealed as she ate, she then turned to Naofumi with a smile. "Doesn't it taste amazing, Naofumi-sama?"

"…Does it?" Naofumi mumbled as he disinterestedly chewed. Like everything else he had eaten in the last two weeks, the thing tasted like sand and felt heavy in his throat.

"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia mumbled, her tail wilting a little.

"I think that has got to be the saddest reaction I've ever seen out of someone eating my cooking. Even if it was something as improvised as this." The white-haired man said. "I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Shirou, and these are Rita, Azu and Firo. We're a group of traveling mercenaries." The man said, introducing himself and the woman who were with him. Beyond mild amusement that the white-haired man's name meant white in his tongue, Naofumi didn't care. Nor did he make any effort to introduce himself.

"I… I'm Raphtilia, and this is my Master, Naofumi." Since Naofumi wasn't going to introduce himself, Raphtilia introduced him instead. The girl was always doing things like that, not that he understood why.

"Master? Then you're…?" The fox girl, Rita or something, started to say, before her eyes went to Raphtilia's chest, seeing the slave seal peeking out from underneath her shirt. "A slave?" The woman gasped, before she turned on Naofumi with a look of horror. "Aren't you supposed to be the Shield Hero? How could you force a child to fight for you?"

Naofumi just scoffed, turning his head away. What did he care if this woman condemned him? So what if he used a slave to fight for him? Slavery was part of this disgusting world, so it wasn't him who was evil for using it, it was the world that was evil.

Seeing his dismissive attitude, the girl bristled, but before she could say anything more, Shirou interrupted her. "Rita, that's enough." The man said with a shake of his head.

"But Sensei, how can you just sit there when he is putting this girl's life in danger like this?" Rita said looking shocked at the man's calm tones.

"Desperation makes men do harsh things in order to survive." Shirou said with something like pity in his voice. "Besides, I don't think he would willingly let anything harm the girl. You could see it in his eyes when we first road up." Shirou then looked straight at Naofumi and gave a knowing smile. "I have seen that look before. Naofumi here knows that if something happens to this girl, he's as good as dead when the wave comes."

Naofumi couldn't help but to glare at Shirou, not that he could deny the truth in those words. He had leveled up more in the past three days with Raphtalia than in the previous two weeks, and he had spent nearly all the money he had on the girl. He wouldn't be able to replace her.

If anything happened to the girl, Naofumi really was as good as dead.

"But if you really are so worried about the girl, how about we help them out a little." Shirou said, giving Naofumi a smile. "Naofumi, would you mind adding Rita here to your party temporarily?"

Naofumi glared at the man with suspicion, but after he confused the girl to request entry into his party, Naofumi didn't turn the girl away. His eyes widened in shock as he saw that the girl was level 41 and the list of her stats. They trumped even the level 75 werewolf that the Slave Trader had shown him.

"The three girls here are all actually extreme talents. Even as level 41s their stats aren't inferior to people up in their 80s." Shirou said, sounding smug. "So how about this. I have some business to take care of in the capital, but it only really requires me to be there. While I am taking care of this business, how about you take these three with you to gain some levels?"

Naofumi didn't know what to say. It was good. Way too good to be true. "What's in it for you?"

"Well, for starters, the Adventurers Guild strictly regulates the best hunting grounds. Without special permission, you can't hunt there. We mercenaries would never be allowed, meaning rather than fighting monsters that are weak compared to the amount of experience they give, we have to actually fight for our lives to get our levels. But if we are in the company of a Hero, international law would stop them from turning us away." Shirou explained. "On top of that is the experience bonuses. It is said that a Hero and their companions gain ten times more experience than a normal adventurer. Meaning that you get ten days' worth of benefit to a single day's effort."

Naofumi's eyes widened. This was the first he had heard of any of this, though he supposed it did make sense.

"If you want more of an incentive, I think I can provide it." Shirou said before getting up and going to his carriage, digging through the back, as if looking for something. Moments later, he came back with a vile of black ink and a leather back. "Here. This ink is something we got off of a group of black-market slavers we had to deal with a little while back. Try letting your shield absorb it."

Naofumi looked at the bit of ink, considering whether he should do it or not, before shrugging and putting it on the crystal in the center of his shield.

Requirement met: [Slave User's Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 5 – Equip Bonus: Slave Growth Up (small) (unmastered)]

[Slave Growth Up (small) – Provides small bonus to stat gain with each level up.]

Holy shit! Depending on how big the numbers, this could be something insane! And since Raphtalia is still relatively low level, she can still receive the full benefit from it.

"That's an interesting expression. Let's see how you like this one." Shirou said, before handing over the bag.

Naofumi looked inside of the bag and saw that it contained some kind of red sand. He didn't even hesitate this time. He just poured the stuff onto his shield.

Requirement met: [Dragon's Era Sand Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 1 – Unique Ability: Portal Shield]

"Portal! As in teleport!" Naofumi couldn't help but to say out loud. He glanced over the description and found that he would be able to teleport himself and a few teammates to a location he had already visited. Even with the hour cooldown, it was still incredibly useful. This was a late game mechanic that was just being suddenly handed to him by a guy he randomly met on the road. "How? How do you know so much about the Legendary Shield?"

"How indeed?" Shirou said with a cocky smile. "Take my kids leveling in a dungeon all day tomorrow, and I'll share with you everything I know. How does that sound?"

Naofumi hesitated. He didn't want to trust this guy, but he didn't see what choice he had. With the Spear and Bow Heroes being assholes, and the rightfully paranoid Sword guy fucking off to who knows where, Naofumi had no choice but to take any information he could get, no matter how suspiciously convenient the source.

Besides, even if he was being led into a trap, he could just teleport away.

"You'd better be ready with that information." Naofumi grumbled.

"Of course." Shirou said, holding up a plate full of meat skewers. "Seconds?"

…Well it was free.


	20. Chapter 20

Shirou had given Raphtalia a new short sword, and Rita had spent hours into the night helping to teach Raphtalia how to wield it properly.

By Shirou's standards, the blade was nothing amazing. Just a normal masterwork piece created using a chunk of meteorite, with not special enchantments to it. But, like all meteorite-based weapons, it would act as the natural enemy to most phantasmal beings. Once reinforced to its fullest, it would easily allow the child to cut down a Monster twenty levels over her.

It was actually amusing, watching Naofumi's expression as they trained. Like a worried but proud mother watching her child taking their first steps will threating over whether or not they would fall and hurt themselves.

They all camped in the forest, Shirou providing the excuse that it was difficult to find inns in Melromarc cities that would give rooms to Demihumans. Naofumi had no idea whether he was speaking the truth or not. Apparently, he had been sleeping outside for days, in order to save money. Only a single inn in town let him enter but that was because he was the Shield Hero.

Then, the next morning, Shirou saw them off, after packing them all lunches for the trip. He watched as they all loaded themselves into the carriage and went sprinting along. "How does someone with such unnatural charisma end up in so much shit?" Shirou wondered after they were gone.

Firo and Azu had both immediately taken a liking to Naofumi, even more than they did with Raphtalia. And when Shirou spoke with Rita alone, she grudgingly admitted that even though Naofumi was using a slave, that she felt like he could be trusted as well, though she knew that it was illogical.

The Shield Hero had been nothing like the way he had been before. His level of paranoid had surpassed even that of a Magus. Shirou had been forced to take on Archer's personality just to get through to the guy, as he didn't trust anyone who was being even slightly nice to him. Only the 'you are only alive because it is convenient for me' act would set the man at ease. As backward as that seemed.

The guy was twitchy, and everything about his body language and manners was meant to ward people off. But even though he was as huggable as a cactus plant, the girls still didn't have much of a problem with him or his behavior.

It was weird.

"Well, I'll figure it out later." Shirou said, stretching his arms above his head. "Looks like its just you and me now!"

Then, moving as fast as his speed stats would allow, Shirou dashed toward a nearby tree, summoned up an ax/sword, and slashed the tree's base, causing it to fall. As it fell, something jumped out of the branches and started to speed away, Shirou giving pursuit.

It was one of the Shadows, this world's equivalent of ninja. The person was dressed from head to toe in a black robe, preventing Shirou from seeing any exposed skin while their back was turned to him. On their belt was a very interesting magic tool that could be used to blend into their surrounds while in the forest or change their appearance in order to mingle with a crowd.

Finding that it couldn't outrun him, the Shadow turned, trying to fight. Or at least pretending too as they reach for there flash bomb. "[Shadow Binding]." Shirou said as Jian took on the form of four separate Blade Knife and was thrown at the Shadow with enough force to pop the sound barrier. The Shadow's body froze as the knife barely missed it and dug themselves into their shadow. They didn't even so much as twitch. "Level 73, not bad." Shirou said, as he glanced at the ninja's dagger. It was the highest-level humanoid that Shirou had confirmed so far. Though their strength and speed still didn't match Firo's. "Tell me, who are you working for and why are you spying on the Shield Hero?"

The Shadow didn't respond.

"I see. Not going to talk. Well, you're luck I'm not the torture time." Shirou said before reaching out a hand and tracing a sword. The blade wasn't attached to a hilt, but rather a strange black orb that glowed with magical power, which hovered above Shirou's open palm. The Shadow tensed and Jian gave Shirou a prodding inside of his head, warning him not to use another weapon besides her. "Don't worry. I don't plan on cutting anyone with this tool." Shirou said, more to Jian than the ninja.

He pointed the blade at the ninja's neck. "Freagróidh tú." As the spell took effect, Shirou allowed Jian's Black Keys to disappear. They weren't needed anymore. "Now let's try this again. Who do you work for, and why are you spying on the Shield Hero?"

"I work for the Queen of Melromarc, degojaru. Her royal highness charged me with watching over the Shield Hero to make sure that no more harm comes to him, and to report false information to the King to prevent him from taking further act against the Shield Hero, degojaru." The Shadow said, before stiffening. "How?"

"You seem surprised. Why?" Shirou asked.

"We Shadows have seals placed on us so that we cannot divulge such information, degojaru… I shouldn't have been able to say that either, degojaru." The Shadow said before swallowing.

Fragarach, or the Answerer, was a very interesting sword, one wielded by those of the Fraga bloodline as a Noble Phantasm. However, even the Fraga couldn't use all of its tricks. In their hands it had been lowered from a Divine Construct down to a mere D-rank Noble Phantasm, which could preform on the level of an A-rank under the absolute best conditions. Still a powerful enough weapon to make the family feared across the globe, but weak compared to its original power.

The most useful of these lost abilities was the reason for why it gained the name, the Answerer, as it bound anyone who was caught at the edge of its blade and forced them to answer any question asked, regardless of the target's will or what magics might bind them to do otherwise. They couldn't even get away with only telling half-truths or vague answers. It was the means in which the God of the Sea and Underworld, Manannan Mac Lir, forced the people whose souls he was judging to tell the truth about their lives. No one could deceive it, not even other gods.

Before coming to this world, tracing such a weapon's full powers would have been difficult, but in a World that didn't give two shits about his magecraft and with the massive boost to his Od, he could trace of dozen such weapons before overexerting himself.

"I see, so you are supposed to die, rather than talk?" Shirou said, making sure to add inflections to make the statement a question.

"The opposite, degojaru. Since torture would be pointless until the seal is removed, it buys time for the Shadow to escape or be rescued, degojaru. Our Queen values our service and loyalty over our secrecy, degojaru. Otherwise she would have merely used a seal to kill us if we are captured, degojaru." The Shadow said miserably. "Forgive me, degojaru." That was probably meant for the Queen and not Shirou.

"So. Is the Shield Hero guilty of rape?" Shirou asked the Shadow.

"No. The First Princess is a liar and dangerous, degojaru. The Queen has known this for years, however, as the First Princess is part of the royal family, she could not do anything without harming Melromarc's reputation, degojaru. This is why the Second Princess is the heir to the throne and has never been allowed near either her sister or her father, degojaru." The Shadow helpfully provided.

"I see." Shirou said. He hadn't known that it was a Princess who brought up the allegations of rape against Naofumi. He had been told that it was just an adventurer. If it was the Princess pretending to be an adventurer, this just opened up a whole new set of questions. "For what reason did the Princess accuse the Shield of rape?"

"The First Princess wants the throne, degojaru. She is trying to use a Heretical Church which has deep roots in this country, the Church of the Three Heroes, in an attempt to seize control, degojaru. She also used it to appear weak and defenseless in a rues to seduce the Spear Hero, degojaru." The Shadow informed Shirou.

Religious extremists and royal bastards making a powerplay during an end of the world scenario. Fucking typical.

"So this is a coup of some kind. What is the King's involvement in this? Does he support the Princess's coup?" Shirou asked, wanting to know just how deep the corruption goes.

"Not exactly, degojaru. The King has been wrapped around his eldest daughter's finger for years, but the man is oblivious to the girl's true motives, degojaru. He just personally hates the Shield Hero due to the Shield's significance to Demihumans, degojaru. He might even actually believe her about the rape, degojaru. The King no longer has any of the wisdom or power he once held, degojaru." The Shadow swallowed hard again. "I REALLY wasn't supposed to have said that, degojaru."

"You weren't supposed to say that, huh? Is Melromarc trying to keep the state of their King under wraps?" Shirou asked.

"That is correct, degojaru. As a former Star Hero of the Cane, his reputation helps defend the kingdom… I was not supposed to say former either, degojaru." The Shadow was almost crying at this point. "Please stop, degojaru."

"Just two more questions. What is the Queen planning on doing about all of this?" Shirou asked, feeling kind of sorry for the poor guy… girl… person? Even their weapon history didn't tell Shirou what gender they were, nor was a name given. He could ask, forcing them to say under a magic binding would feel kind of wrong.

"The Queen wishes to use this opportunity to lure out the scum of our nation in order to purge the Church of the Three Heroes once and for all, degojaru. She is just waiting for the best moment, degojaru. This is the only reason the other nations have yet to declare war on Melromarc over the treatment of the Shield Hero, because the Queen has them believing it is part of an elaborate scheme to get rid of the religious extremist who have so long pushed the idea of human supremacy, degojaru." The Shadow said, their voice going hollow. "You cannot tell anyone, degojaru! If word gets out and the Queen's plan fails, then not only is Melromarc doomed, but it will drag the rest of the world down with it, degojaru!"

"You're probably right about that one." Shirou said with a sigh. "I'll keep my lips sealed. You don't need to worry. Now for my final question. Where are the other three heroes?"

The Shadow practically gave a sigh of relief. Probably thinking that there were far worse questions that Shirou could have asked. "The Spear and Bow Heroes have headed south, into Zeltoble, where all the best equipment in the world is made, degojaru. They appear to be trying to outfit themselves with the best gear they can buy with the money they got from the King, degojaru. Though considering the price of said gear, the few hundred silvers they received won't go terribly far, degojaru."

So, they were going to Zeltoble. They were probably planning on copying the various weapons without telling the shop keepers what they are doing. Not that Shirou was judging. He did the same thing just by walking by the store window, whether he wanted to or not.

"As for the Sword Hero, he vanished without a trace right after leaving the Castle, degojaru. He even managed to elude the Shadows that the Church of the Three Heroes had employed to follow and guard him, degojaru." The Shadow informed him.

Those were the Church's Shadows? Good to know. If he could track them down, he could get a nice pair of magical disguise belts.

"However, the Church of the Four Saints detected the Sword Hero using a vast amount of his holy power in Siltvelt, during the Wave of Calamity, degojaru. However, by the time Siltvelt forces arrived on the scene, he had already moved on and became untraceable again, degojaru. This fact is currently being withheld from the people of Melromarc, degojaru." The Shadow finished her report before mumbling. "I wasn't supposed to say that either, degojaru."

…Shit. So the Legendary Weapons have a unique energy signature, probably released whenever they use up large amounts of SP at once.

Shirou dismissed his interrogation tool, letting the Shadow fall to their knees. "That wasn't fair at all, DEGOJARU!" The Shadow actually started to cry. "My Queen, please forgive this Shadow who couldn't keep your secrets, degojaru." Then the Shadow started to draw her knife.

"Wow, hold on now!" Shirou shouted, grabbing the person's arm before they could thrust the dagger into themselves.

"Don't stop me, degojaru! This Shadow has disgraced itself and needs to die, degojaru!" The Shadow cried, their voice showing more of a female quality to it.

"Think about it! Who's going to report all this to the Queen if you die here like this!" She said, trying to reason with the Shadow. The Shadow stopped struggling and nodded silently. Shirou let go and they wilted to the ground, still whimpering.

"I was hired by someone to help the Shield Hero recover from what happened. Once I am done, my next destination will be Zeltoble." Shirou said with an apologetic look. The Shadow looked like a kicked puppy. "Tell your Queen that if she wants to hire a mercenary, I might be available. Though I don't do assassinations, I'm pretty open minded about other things." Shirou then turned and started to walk away into the shadows of the trees. "Take care of yourself, Shadow."

He then hid Jian from sight as she took on the shade of Carnwennan, the dagger Artoria had used to strike down the Black Hag. Normally its level requirement would have been too high, but by using Alteration to remove the [barrier cutting] property from it, Shirou degraded the weapon down to the point where it only had a level requirement of 47.

His experiments with lowering level requirements was met with success, but the degraded forms were so bad that he might as well have just been using a none degraded weapon at the same level. He also couldn't duplicate equip weapon bonuses, as whatever bonuses the degraded version gave would be taken out of the higher quality version. Still, it let him use things with helpful passive effects, such as Carnwennan.

Shirou activated its [Presence Concealment] effect and the shadows around him quickly hid his form from sight, making it look like he had been swallowed by the darkness and made to disappear.

"What… where… how…!?" The Shadow mumbled in shock before tilting up its head and shouting. "I hate you! You… You jerk! Degojaru!"

* * *

[Level Up: Lv 25]

Naofumi's level had more than tripled in just two hours of wondering around the dungeon. He was feeling the full effects of being carried hard in the backpacks of higher-level players. It was almost enough to make the guy laugh.

The dragon woman and the bird child were casually brushed aside the various monsters with powerful spells and physical strikes, sometimes before the things could even recognize what was going on. Meanwhile the fox girl, Rita, had taken Raphtalia aside and was assisting the girl in killing the monsters herself, by drawing the attention of the creatures and crippling them with strikes to their joints before letting Raphtalia get the kill. Giving the younger girl words of encouragement and advice as they went along.

The only thing Naofumi had to do was walk around behind them, dismantling and absorbing the slain monsters.

In that manner, two hours went by and the high-level girls didn't seem to tire one bit. The only one who needed breaks was Raphtalia, the others just got kind of bored, saying that the monsters weren't strong enough. However, when the young girl did need a break, she was forced to take it, with Rita telling her that 'exhaustion is the enemy' and that 'a warrior needs to know their limits and rest whenever they have the opportunity'. Apparently, she learned it all from that Shirou guy, who she called Sensei. Guy sounded like a serious Spartan, convinced that every aspect of life is like fighting an enemy.

Naofumi might have been paranoid enough to see enemies and liars in just about everyone he met, but he could honestly say he had never considered a lack of appropriate clothing to be an enemy.

"Rita-nee-chan, we're out of monsters." The bird, Firo reported after they cleared out what they believed to be the last tunnel.

"Already? I thought there would be more." Rita said. Naofumi only looked around at all the bodies. They had killed somewhere in the seven or eight hundreds. Just how many monsters had they been expecting? "I suppose they were a bit stronger than what we usually deal with, but this was only around twice as many monsters as we normally see every day just by traveling on the roads."

…WHAT THE HELL!? What kind of psychotic roads do this people take!?

"Shirou-sama attracts monsters." The dragon woman said. "Shirou-sama's magic rejects the World. The disruption that causes alerts monsters. No Shirou-sama. Less monsters."

"Really? I always thought we ran into an awful lot of monsters, but I didn't realize it was because of Sensei." Rita said thoughtfully.

So, Shirou was some kind of extremely powerful mage who causing monsters to act up? Having felt the man's presence the previous night, Naofumi could actually believe that.

"Well, Master is also just really lucky with those kinds of things." Firo said happily.

That's lucky!? …Actually, Naofumi supposed that it kind of was, if you were only concerned about the EXP.

"There are still a few more hours to go before we are supposed to meet back with Sensei." Rita said. "I guess, if there are no more monsters here, we will just have to leave and find more somewhere else."

"Sounds good. Just let me finish absorbing this lizard thing and we'll get out of this dungeon." Naofumi said as he carefully cut away the skin and removed the bones, absorbing them into his Shield.

Requirement met: [Blue Dungeon Lizard Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 6 – Equip Bonus: Defense +3 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Blue Dungeon Lizard Leather Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 5 – Equip Bonus: Dexterity +2 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Blue Dungeon Lizard Fang Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 4 – Equip Bonus: Speed +2 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Blue Dungeon Lizard Bones Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 5 – Equip Bonus: Defense +2 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Blue Dungeon Lizard Meat Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 3 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +2 (unmastered)]

He had unlocked one hundred different weapon forms from the monsters in the dungeons, and there were enough repeats for him to have already mastered half of them. Quite a few of the new Shields involved stat bonuses, however, there still won't any to increase his attack damage, and all of them still had a base attack power of zero.

He had made more progress in that single day than he had made in the last 16 days, since he had first been summoned, but he still had no way of dealing damage.

They retraced their steps and left the dungeon, carrying the extra pelts that Naofumi didn't need to absorb. He'd sell them off later.

The dungeon wouldn't be empty for long. Apparently dungeons were places where monsters just grew out of the walls like mildew, but the fact that they had basically exterminated it in a couple hours was still weird.

The others were cheerful all the way until they got outside. That was when the bird gave a scream of horror. "What are you doing to Firo's carriage!"

The guards who had been standing in front of the dungeon when they first went in looked up in surprise from their trip of digging through the mercenary's stuff. "What, they are alive?" The guard said in surprise. Naofumi's eye twitched. He didn't enjoy being killed off.

"Get away from Firo's carriage!" The angel winged girl screeched. In a moment she had expanded into her gigantic bird form and rushed the guards.

Naofumi couldn't help but to laugh as each and every one of the guards received a kick between the legs that was strong enough to knock them several feet into the air. The sight of the bastards that had been sneering at him down on the ground, clutching their ruined manhood, had made Naofumi's day.

"I've never seen Naofumi-sama so happy." Raphtalia said, smiling herself as she watched her master.

Damn straight he was happy. Today had been a good day.

* * *

Guard duty at the front gate was always tough. You had to stand at attention for hours, checking everyone who comes through, getting glared at by nobles for the inconvenience and having shit thrown at you by kids. It was a real drag. At least it was still early in the day and had yet to get really hot.

Normally, nothing of real interest even happened. But that day, the guards at the front gate all tensed as a man with short red and white hair walked up towards them, dressed in bronze and gold scale-armor barring the likeness of a griffin on the front. On the man's back was a claymore style sword on his back, with a wing like pattern for the guard and the head of an eagle on its pummel.

"Halt." A guard said, bringing up his spear. Though the man paled when the stranger drew his sword, which morphed in front of their eyes into a beautiful white and golden sword with a large blue stone in its hilt.

The Legendary Holy Sword.

"Tell his Highness that the Sword Hero is here and requests a meeting with him at once." The Hero of the Sword said in a commanding voice. "With the Wave coming, time is precious, I can't afford to waste it."

"Of… of course, Hero-sama!" The guard shouted, dropping his spear before running full speed into the castle in order to get someone of the appropriate rank to deal with this.

People nearby pointed and whispered, and somewhere in the crowd, an informant ran off to tell the Church of the missing hero's sudden return.

Shirou smiled. The bait had been set.

* * *

 **Shirou is starting to get into the RPG spirit. (Western RPGs at least.)**

 **"My enemies have ninjas with magical disguise belts? ...I want."**


	21. Chapter 21

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Your Highness." Shirou said as he kneeled before the King.

"Rise, Hero of the Sword." The King said, letting Shirou stand at ease. "Tell me, why is it that you chose to disappear after leaving the castle?"

"Would you think ill of me if I told you I thought it was amusing?" Shirou said with a slightly guilty smile. "I am a grown man who wields legendary power and skill. I neither need, nor desire babysitters. I'm sure you can relate, not being allowed to leave the castle without a dozen bodyguards around."

The King's mouth twitched slightly. "Perhaps. However, you are one of the only hopes for our world. You should understand that having you disappear leaves us uneasy. But tell me, how has your progress been?"

"I am currently level 57, almost 58." Shirou said calmly.

"Level 57, you say?" He said, stroking his chin with approval. His advisers gasped at hearing how fast Shirou had grown. "Well, with results like this, I suppose we have no right to complain. Have you had any luck with finding companions to assist you on your journey?"

"It has been difficult to find people with skill. It seems that many adventurers believe you don't need to know which side of the sword is the pointy end, so long as your level is high enough. I've ended up taking a few fresh youngsters with some good talent and have started training them up from scratch." Shirou reported as he left the King's party. "However Your Highness, I haven't come here today merely to give a status report. I wish to discuss a matter that needs to be dealt with before the next Wave of Calamity hits."

"I see. Speak then, what is so important that you would interrupt your journey to come and report it?" The King asked, his face returning to a serious line.

"It involves how the pervious Wave was handled. Are you aware of how long it took for the Wave to be dealt with?" Shirou asked the King.

"Yes. It took twelve hours for the previous wave to be resolved." The King said in a regretful tone of voice.

"That is correct, but do you know why it took twelve hours?" Shirou said. "From what I have gathered, rather than eliminating the threat immediately, the Knight Commander ordered his troops to stand down so that the monsters would ravage the lands populated by the Demihumans. This gave the monsters time to spread and cause a much wider scale problem. While I am not in the position to judge the conflicts between humans and demihumans of this world, in those twelve hours that the gateway remained open, nearly two million monsters were allowed entry into this world, resulting in the deaths of thousands. Even now, the remains of the Wave still haven't been fully dealt with. Such behavior would be incompetence at the criminal level."

"…Is this true?" The King asked, looking to one of his advisers.

"I do not know, your Majesty." The man said.

"An investigation is likely in order. However, I don't think we can risk another such act occurring. I wish to suggest that the Knight Commander be suspended from his duties pending the completion of the investigation and another leader be placed in charge of the armed forces." Shirou suggested.

"Let it be done." The King commanded and one of his men left the room to give the orders. "As you've said, this could take time. The Knight Commander is a member of high nobility with many connections. Even with proper evidence, bringing the man to trial will be difficult and time consuming. However, he will be replaced in time for the next Wave, even if he has yet to see justice."

"I understand, Your Highness. I am personally more concerned with dealing with the Waves than dishing out justice." Shirou confessed. "So long as the army is under more professional leadership, I care not what happens to the man."

"Hm… speaking of criminals getting their due, I assume you've heard about what happened with the Shield Hero." The King said, changing the subject.

"…Yes. Though the news has only recently reached me, I have heard about it." Shirou said. The King was testing him, seeing how he would respond to the allegations, to see if he would believe Naofumi's guilt. While Shirou knew the man was innocent, nothing good would come of fighting the King about it. Right now they were willing to leave Naofumi alive. If Shirou started to kick the hornets' nest on it and question Naofumi's guilt, they might change their minds about that. In just a little while longer, between levels and improvements to his shield, Naofumi will become exceedingly difficult to kill. Shirou would help the Shield Hero, but he couldn't do it here. "Personally, I'm not all that surprised. Many figures in my world that were worshipped as heroes were really just self-centered monsters whose actions just so happened to benefit their country. There was once a famous man in my world called Vlad the Impaler, who killed anyone who opposed him, and sometimes even the innocent. He would impale their bodies on pikes and prostrate them outside of his castle to frighten his enemies. While the man was an absolute psychopath, he did defend his lands from invaders."

Some of the people gasped at the description of the famous figure. "So, you aren't surprised that one of your fellows was scum?" The King summarized.

"The only thing that I consider surprising is that it was Naofumi. I had thought that it would have been Motoyasu or Itsuki. They just seemed more like the type to me. I suppose I am still a poor judge of character." Shirou said with a shake of the head. "That said, even scum has its uses. Would it have not been wiser to simply cover up what happened rather than letting everyone know what the Shield Hero did? As dishonorable as it is to say it, when compared to the lives saved by the Heroes putting a stop to the Waves of Calamity, what is a single raped adventurer?"

Shirou would pretend not to know that the Princess was involved. That wasn't supposed to be common knowledge, as far as Shirou could tell. Shirou would put forward the front of being a pragmatist, willing to sacrifice truth and honor to get the job done.

"Cover it up, you say? Tell me, would you think to cover it up if it that adventurer was your family. What would you have done if it was your sister who had been raped?" The King asked, narrowing his eyes at Shirou.

Shirou paused for a moment before slowly releasing his MP and Od so that his magical aura caused the air to vibrate with energy and the torches to flicker. "Then nothing in this world or any other would had saved him from me."

A slight smile played at the King's lips. Shirou had once again gained the man's approval. "Then he should be glad that I am more merciful than you are."

* * *

Shirou was back in the castle library, a book of intermediate level magic to one side and a blank journal in front of him. He was pretending to take notes about what he was reading in Japanese for later use, when in reality he was writing what he would call 'an idiot's guide to legendary weapon ownership'. Written by an idiot, for an idiot. Once he was done, he would use his magecraft to speed up the yellowing of the pages to make it look older than it actually was and then had it over to Naofumi.

It was a pity that this would be a one-way exchange of information. He'd be depending on Rita to fill him in on what methods he had figured out to improve the power of the Legendary Weapons. Though her ability to do so would be limited to what could be seen on the surface.

Still, it was best not to let people know that the Sword Hero was helping the criminal Shield Hero. It would only lead to politics, and politics tended to get good people killed.

Shirou had basically finished his twenty-page guide containing everything he had figured out about Jian, excluding the fact that she was conscious, which he felt Naofumi would have a hard time swallowing. Best not to give him any reason to doubt when the weapon required faith to use. The only reason Shirou was even still there was because he was waiting for them, and as soon as he sensed the presence of blades attempting to hid themselves from him, he got up and started to move out.

In the ancient Greek philosophy, which many forms of Magecraft have their roots, there is the concept of 'effluvium' which had been the old Greeks attempt to explain how sensation existed. It was said that each object gave off information which was picked up and processed by the human sensory organs. Each organ merely recognizing that information in a different way and requiring a different threshold in order to properly detect it.

For Shirou however, his entire being was a sensory organ when it came to the detection of weapons. Anything from sight, to smell, to even the more hypothetical forms of effluvium, such as intent, could allow Shirou to detect and process information about a blade. While not as effective as touch or line of sight, the desire to remain hidden from Shirou itself gave off information waves that gave away the Shadows' positions.

It seemed as though three of them had been sent to follow after Shirou this time.

Shirou grinned and stretched. "Time to go shopping for some equipment." He closed the books and took them with him. He'd already received permission to take the magic book anyways. He had just been waiting for his secret escort.

The Shadows followed him as he left the castle and through the streets of the city. He took his time going from one shop to another, buying a few things that he would need for his cooking and for dealing with Naofumi before he finally got to the city square.

This spot would do. He wanted to make as big of a spectacle out of it as possible, and everyone's eyes were on him.

Without warning, Shirou spun around and with all the speed he possessed, he dashed straight into what to most people looked like an elderly woman, pushing them hard in the stomach. People gasped as Shirou pulled away the Shadow's belt, revealing them in their black robes as Jian transformed into a copy of Rider's nails and chains.

Even as Shirou bound the first Shadow he was moving towards the other two, a pair disguised as a young couple. The Shadow's saw him coming, but from their relaxed states, they could do little more than try to jump backwards before Shirou was on them.

Within the span of five seconds, Shirou had the three Shadows tied together in the middle of the town square, with everyone watching. None of them had been as skilled as the Queen's Shadow that Shirou had seen in the forest.

"Nice try, but you are going to have to be a bit more sneaky than this if you want to follow me without me noticing." Shirou said with a chuckle, as if it had all been just a game.

"He…Hero-sama. We meant no offense." One of the Shadows said, as everyone around them gasped and pointed.

"And I take no offense. I merely don't enjoy being followed around." Shirou said before looking at one of the other Shadows. "You, you were one of the two Shadows from before, that followed me to the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, correct? Yes, I recognize you, though these other two are new."

"H…How can you tell!?" The indicated Shadow shouted in surprise.

"I wouldn't be much of a Legendary Hero if I could be outdone by a couple of Shadows, now would I?" Shirou said, adding some smugness to his voice.

"Truly, the Hero of the Sword-sama is a man of legends!" Another Shadow said with awe in his voice.

Shirou chuckled and shook his head before turning to walk away. He allowed the chains that bond the Shadows to disappear as he went. "Tell his Holiness he doesn't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself." Shirou said as he activated [Transport Sword] and teleported away, the magic ninja belts still in hand.

Oh yes, those would come in handy.

* * *

…What the hell?

Naofumi could only stare in disbelief as he returned to the place where they had left Shirou that morning to find a long table with a white tablecloth and several chairs sitting in the middle of the forest. One the table was a massive spread of food that surpassed what the Shield Hero had seen presented at the feast provided for the summoned heroes on their first day, all of it sitting on glittering silver platters.

He blinked and rubbed at his eyes, before finally accepting that he was actually seeing this.

"Yeah, food!" Firo cheered before diving towards the table with no restraint at all. She nearly landed right on top of it, if only Shirou didn't grab her out of midair with one hand.

"No climbing on the table, or I won't cook you special meals anymore." Shirou said before putting the girl down. She still stood on her chair to reach as much as possible and didn't wait for everyone else to be seated, or even to have gotten out of the carriage. "It seems like everything went well. The Shield Hero is now level 26. Not bad at all for just a day's work."

Naofumi frowned, wondering how the man could know such a thing after just a glance.

"Yes, though I'm afraid there weren't as many monsters in the dungeon as we had hoped." Rita said.

These people had weird expectations.

Perhaps they were disappointed because after the entire day they had only grown two levels. The EXP requirement scaling was steeper than Naofumi had at first anticipated. He would have had to kill thirty thousand balloons just to grow to his current level, and that is with the experience bonus from being a hero. Without the bonus from his Shield, he'd only be a level 8, pushing level 9. How did anyone manage to reach the higher levels in this world?

He'd need more power, more knowledge if he wanted to survive.

"I did as you asked. So, when are you going to tell me what you know about the Legendary Weapons?" Those were the first words out of Naofumi's mouth when he exited the carriage.

"Naofumi-sama…" Raphtalia mumbled with a sigh. He knew she didn't like it when he was direct like that, but this was too important to beat around the bush.

"So impatient. Can't even wait until after we eat." Shirou said with a shake of his head and that annoying smile. "I'll tell you, but there is one last thing I want to show you first. Something that might take that stick out of your butt." Shirou then went down on one knee and beckoned to Raphtalia. "Raphtalia, could you come here for a moment?"

Raphtalia looked at Naofumi for permission, or perhaps assurance, that it was okay, to which the Shield Hero nodded. Then, when the girl was standing in front of Shirou, he raised his hand and a knife appeared in it.

The mere sight of that twisted blade made Naofumi's body go rigid. It's odd discolorations, its red handle, its cruel aura. Naofumi felt as if he was looking at that the soul of that traitorous cunt who had stabbed him in the back, only in the form of an actual knife. Just looking at the thing was filling him with disgust and hate.

"What's that?" Raphtalia asked.

"This knife is a powerful magic item called 'Rule Breaker'. It has the power to cancel and destroy any form of magical contract." Shirou told the girl. Naofumi felt his heart drop and his eyes widened in horror. "If you wish, I will release you from your slave contract."

Naofumi's breaths were becoming more labored, and his mind screamed. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening! Even with the levels he gained, he still didn't have any damn offensive power! Without Raphtalia… without her…

"But if you do this, with Naofumi's current state of mind, he will never be able to trust you. He will force you away." Shirou said, his voice calm and gentle. "The choice is yours. Remain a slave and stay with Naofumi or be freed and leave his side."

Choice? What kind of fucking choice was that!? The answer was obvious. Raphtalia would leave him. No one would choose to remain a slave. And he couldn't trust anyone who wasn't force to never betray him. The only reason he had ever bought Raphtalia was because something like this was never supposed to happen.

Hate. He hated Shirou. That bastard had been playing him this entire time. Setting him up just so that he could…

"I don't want it." Raphtalia said, stepping away from Shirou and the evil knife. "Naofumi-sama has done so much for me. He's allowed me eat whatever I wanted. He gave me precious medicine when I was sick. Whenever I'm tired, he lets me rest, and he tries to cheer me up when I'm sad. I… I want to stay with Naofumi-sama."

Shirou didn't seem at all surprised or try to stop the girl when she pulled away. "Are you sure? Do you know what crime he stands accused of?" Shirou said, his eye going to Naofumi. "Some say that he raped his former companion."

Naofumi's face contorted in anger as he heard those words. He was about to deny it when Raphtalia beat him to it. "Naofumi-sama would never do that!" She shouted angrily at the accusation of Naofumi's character. "I know Naofumi-sama, and he would never do that! He has never tried to take advantage of me even once!" Naofumi didn't know what to say when Raphtalia ran away from Shirou and grabbed onto his cloak. "Please Naofumi-sama, let me stay with you."

"I… I…" Tears were forming in Naofumi's eyes as he reached down and patted the girl's head. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Now that is a smile." Shirou said as he let the dagger disappear, a look on his face saying that he had known this would happen. Naofumi blinked, he hadn't even realized he was smiling. "Come now, hurry up and eat, before Firo finishes everything."

"Ah… right." Naofumi said before going and taking a seat.

He at his first meal in weeks that had an actual taste… and it was amazing.

Though for some reason, Shirou constantly looked at Naofumi's hands as he was eating. Was there something weird about the way he was holding his silverware?

* * *

"Here. This is a piece of old text left behind by one of the Legendary Heroes of the past." Shirou said as he brought out a noticeably old and worn journal. "It's written in the language of the Hero so it is a pain to translate, but I doubt that would be a problem for you."

Naofumi took the thing and went through the pages, his eyes widening. "It's in Japanese." Naofumi said, as if it confirmed its authenticity. He began to read until he hit something that made him stiffen. "It says here that some of the functions of the Legendary Weapons are locked unless the user actually knows about them. So reading the help menu wasn't going to do me any damn good." He grumbled.

Damn Motoyasu and Itsuki. Those bastards had left him out for dry before the allegations of rape ever even came up, telling him to just read the help menu. Honestly, fuck those guys!

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered how Issei was fairing. The paranoid Sword Hero had been smarter and more skilled than the rest of them, more skilled with a sword than anyone should reasonably be, coming from modern times, but he hadn't known anymore about the games that the world was based on than Naofumi had, beyond being aware that his sister played one of them.

Maybe if they ran into each other after the Wave, they could share notes. If the both of them were still alive. Maybe he could even talk the guy into torturing the info out of the other two bastards.

"Before you get lost in your own little world, try going to page four. If my translation was right, it would be called weapon doppelganger." Shirou said, pulling back Naofumi from his fantasy of tying the bastards down and ripping out their toenails.

Naofumi turned to the related page and read it. "Weapon Copy. The Legendary Weapons can copy weapons of the same category for the hero's use, so long as they meet level requirements. Wait, can I seriously do that!"

"Want to try and find out?" Shirou said before lifting up a free hand. Just like with the knife an item appeared, only this time it was a shield.

"How do you do that?" Naofumi asked as he looked at the shield.

"It's nothing fancy. I just create objects out of raw magical energy." Shirou said with a shrug. "This shield, the table, the plates and silverware, even that chair you are sitting on." As he said it, Naofumi's chair dissolved and he fell on his ass. "All of it is made by magic."

Naofumi got back up and glared at Shirou who gave an apologetic smile. "You set this entire place up just so you could pull that prank, didn't you?" Naofumi grumbled, though in the back of his mind he was in shock about the utterly BS magic skill. What, did the guy have access to the level editor or something?

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Shirou said.

"I've never heard of a magic like that before." Raphtalia said in amazement.

"That's because I made it myself. Now, try it." Shirou said, handing Naofumi the shield he had just conjured up.

"Are you sure it will even work with a fake object?" Naofumi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No but have a little faith." Shirou said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry so much, my fakes are pretty real." Naofumi scold but then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Basic Iron Shield – Rarity: Very Common – Base Defense: 3 – Equip Bonus: [Shield Bash] (unmastered) – Level Requirement: 3]

Naofumi opened his eyes and the Legendary Shield transformed into a copy of the shield Shirou had given him. "It worked!" Naofumi explained in amazement.

"Alright. Now let's try something a little different." Shirou dismissed the shield he had given Naofumi, though the copy still remained. He then summoned another shield, this time having it on his own arm. "Tell me, would you say this is a shield?"

"Huh? Well yeah, it looks like one to me." Naofumi said, looking the thing up and down. He didn't understand what the guy was getting at. It looked like an ordinary… Shirou twisted his wrist and the blade of a sword shot out from within the shield.

…Oh fuck yes!

* * *

Naofumi had gone off to finish reading the notes Shirou had given him, while Raphtalia and Rita went back to sword practice and Firo and Azu had gotten back into their pajamas and gone to sleep.

Meanwhile, Shirou had filled a plate with whatever leftovers there were from the meal and walked over to the trees. Resting his back to the tree, he lifted the plate about his head. "Want any?"

A moment later the weight disappeared from his hands as the Shadow took it. "You are a resourceful bastard, I'll give you that much, degojaru." The Shadow said as she started to eat, pulling up on her mask just enough to expose her mouth.

"I've been told." Shirou said with a shrug. "Are you alright now? You're not going to try to hurt yourself again, are you? I'd rather not have to take that knife away."

"I don't need your concern, degojaru." The Shadow answered a little bitterly as she ate. "With this, the Shield Hero has become much stronger, degojaru. He will no doubt leave the area around the castle soon, after which my job here will be done, degojaru."

"Are you allowed to tell me the conditions of your job?" Shirou asked.

"In light of your assistance and in order to ensure that there is no repeat of that… incident, Her Majesty has granted her permission to speak more freely with you, degojaru. Be grateful, degojaru." The Shadow said.

"Be grateful, huh? You're acting like a 'Tsundere'." Shirou chuckled, though his mind went to how the Shadow could contact the Queen in another country in just a few hours. They must have magic items that could be used for sending messages.

"A 'Tsundere'? Is this a type of monster, degojaru?" The Shadow asked. Apparently, Jian refused to translate that word. It must have been too close to her forbidden word.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Shirou said, a smile spreading across his face as he thought of Rin and how she would react to this.

"I've never heard of it, degojaru. Is it dangerous, degojaru?" The Shadow pressed.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Shirou repeated, barely containing his laughter.

"Then you should know that I am not to be played around with, degojaru. Just because you got the drop on me before, don't think that it will happen again, degojaru." The Shadow said before disappeared.

Yep. That's a Tsundere.

* * *

 **Shield Bash is actually a stupidly OP (for 1v1) skill from the canon. Involving a 5 second stun with a 6 second cooldown for almost no SP cost. Meaning Naofumi could basically lock someone down, so long as they can't pass the endurance check. He just stands their smacking them in the face with his shield all day until they eventually collapse.**

* * *

 **"He won't truly get the RPG spirit until he takes everything on his path, regardless if it is nailed or not."**

 **...You know, considering the way Jian can absorb things...**

* * *

 **Added Note: I didn't realize it had been so long that people wouldn't understand the joke about Naofumi and the silverware thing. It is because whenever Shirou tries to eat with silverware that isn't just Jian in disguise, he gets punished for it, because he can't convince himself that it isn't a weapon.**


	22. Chapter 22

[Steel Blade Shield +5 (0/10) Awakened – Quality: High-Quality++ – Base Attack Power: 18 – Base Defense Power: 26 – Equip Bonus: +8 defense +6 attack (mastered) – Enhancement Lv: 3: +6% Damage-Reduction-From-Humanlike – Proficiency: (0%) – Level Requirement: 16]

Damn, what a shield.

Having slept with the shield equip, he had it mastered by morning and ready to awaken and upgrade, and once Naofumi had upgraded it to the best of his abilities, it had five times as much defense as his other shields, as well as a generous amount of attack. He wasn't exactly sure how the cutting edge compared to other weapons, but he was more than ready to test it out.

And the shield could get even better if he could fine the right kind of jewels to reinforce it with.

That said, after Shirou had spotted Naofumi trying to swing the blade about and give him a sharp hit to the head and a lesson on how to use the shield properly, he realized that the Blade Shield was suited more to counter attacking enemies than for offensive slashes.

By parrying a blow and having the opponent's weapon, or claw or whatever, act as something to slide off if, it would naturally put the blade into the optimum position to strike in. Acting as more of a sneak attack rather than a swingable blade, since the shield part made balancing difficult. So in order to use it properly, Naofumi would have to still face the enemy attack. But this was still far more offensive power than he had before. His personal damage output had increased a hundred-fold…

Alright so maybe he still wasn't an insane damage dealer, but it was still something. He wasn't getting the no damage indicators anymore.

"You sure you got enough sleep?" Shirou asked Naofumi, breaking him out of his trance and causing him to look up from his status menu.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Naofumi said, watching as Shirou continued to cook breakfast. He just noticed that he had no idea where the man got the food from. He hadn't seen any sort of ingredients while they were in the carriage. The bird had eaten absolutely everything in there. Was the food itself just another magical construct or something?

"After the kids wake up, we'll all have one final meal together and be on our separate ways." Shirou said.

Naofumi grunted slightly at the mention of Shirou and his party leaving. While he didn't trust Shirou as far as he could throw the irresponsibly overpowered warlock, or whatever he was, him and his party were damn useful. His distrust for the man was nothing personal, he was just far too convenient to be real.

He glanced over to where the 'kids' were sleeping.

Apparently, when Demihumans and Monsters are younger, they aged as they leveled up. It had taken Naofumi by surprise when this was pointed out to him and he noticed that Raphtalia had put on two or three years since he had first bought her four days ago. Supposedly, Rita was actually fifteen, and Azu, the dragon girl, was only eight. Though both those seemed reasonable when compared with Firo being less than a year old.

The Filolial had returned to her giant bird form in her sleep, while still wearing the pajamas, causing it to look like an overstuffed lion with a fat bird's head sticking out of its mouth. Apparently, the mascot-like costume could change sizes to fit the wear. Magic clothes like that must be pricey, and yet the kids were using them as just colorful sleepwear. Naofumi couldn't help but wonder what the man's rates were like.

"Out of curiosity, how much would it cost me to get you to kill the King before you left?" Naofumi asked.

"Sorry, I don't take assassination jobs. Or jobs that would result in a war." Shirou said with a shake of the head. "I don't like death. And would rather avoid it whenever possible."

"Strange profession to be in then." Naofumi commented, mildly disappointed that he wouldn't even be given a number. "Don't mercenaries kill people for money?"

"I didn't become a mercenary for the money. I became one so that I could help people." Shirou said with a shake of the head.

"…You're going to have to run that one by me." Naofumi said, giving the man a look of disbelief.

"If I was a knight, then I would fight for the behest of my Lord. As such, politics would rule my sword and I would be forced to ignore any cry for help that didn't serve my Lord's purposes. I might even have to kill a man I do not believe deserves death because I was ordered to. If I had become an Adventurer, I would be at the beck and call of the Guild and would only help people who had the money to afford to buy the Adventurers' Guild's attention. Meanwhile, a mercenary is a free sword, and I can choose whatever battle I want, and only fight when I see fit." Shirou explained. "While the pay is nice, it is the feeling you get when you do the right thing that I really work for."

"Or really? If you get off on doing the right thing, then why did you help me?" Naofumi asked. "For all you know, I'm a criminal rapist."

Shirou just shrugged. "Even if you were, I would still have helped you. It never really mattered to me whether you are innocent or guilty. Rape is a horrible crime, but not one I would deem punishable by a forced march to one's death. Though I suppose I might not have been as willing to leave you alone with my kids if you really were a rapist. Not that you are strong enough to take advantage of them."

Naofumi blinked at the man in shock. "You would help me even if I was guilty?"

Shirou looked at Naofumi and smiled. "Whether they are a saint or a sinner, at the end of the day, everyone prays for salvation. Who am I to judge who is worthy enough to receive it?"

"…You're an idiot." Naofumi said.

"Yes. I know."

* * *

'Tell his Holiness he doesn't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.'

The Pope sat on the bench in the room of prayer, staring up at the statue of God, wondering what to make of the Sword Hero.

On the one hand, he was an extremely capable individual. He had already grown twenty more levels than the other two heroes, even without assistance or accesses to the country's best training grounds. He was intelligent, powerful, unbelievably skilled, and knew how to navigate a political battlefield without getting involved. If you wanted an all-around capable individual, then he was your man.

However, at the same time, he was by far the least heroic person of the bunch. His didn't go out of his way to inspire people, make a habit of displaying his might, or even try to act like he cared about justice or righteousness. Nor did he care about the conflicts between the races. His only concern was his duty to stop the Waves of Calamity. He was pragmatic to a fault. Perfectly willing to let a rapist walk free so long as the man was useful. And while these would be admirable qualities in a normal person, they weren't what you wanted to see in a hero.

The simple truth was, while the Spear and Bow Heroes had been rather ordinary heroes, openly flaunting their power and connections or yammering on about justice, the Sword Hero had been anything but. The Pope would struggle to call him a hero at all. He almost gave the impression of an antihero, a man with no heroic traits whatsoever who only played the part of a hero because they literally had no other options.

'I'm a repairman.'

He might as well have just said, 'I am a person that solves problems.' The young man was an assassin, and a skilled one at that. Skilled enough to make all the Church's Shadows look like jokes, and the Shadows practically worshipped him as if he was God himself because of it. Seeing their eyes shining in admiration behind their masks was rather unnerving.

Somehow the man's clothes ended up underneath his bed at the castle, even though he walked out of it wearing them. Almost as if he had snuck back into the castle to plant them there, just to show that he could. When the Shadows found out about this, they had the clothes enshrined in their secret quarters.

The Pope supposed it is understandable. The Sword Hero is one of the three individuals closest to God, besides himself. It must have been comforting for the Shadows on a spiritual level to find out that he was someone like them.

But the million-gold question remained, was this all a good thing or a bad thing? Yes, he didn't hang around showing off for the populace, but that just meant he was spending more time growing to be a higher level, and that whenever he did do something public the news of it spread like wildfire. Because of how flamboyant the Spear Hero was, many had already gotten bored of talking about his attempts to show off, and it hadn't even been three weeks since he had been summoned. The Pope supposed that too much water drowns the seeds.

However, without any of their adventure and noble spies planted inside of his inner circle, the Church had no way of controlling the information flow around him, and the man was already very much aware of the Church's existence. While he didn't seem to care about them or their doctrine either way, it was still unnerving to have someone like him knowing that you had tried to manipulate them. The best that could be said about that situation was that the Sword Hero merely found their attempts to track and control him amusing rather than anything else, and hadn't retaliated save to show up the Shadows.

The only thing that might have been considered enemy action was the way he politically attacked the Knight Commander and placed him under investigation. Though even this was not really a problem. Even though the Knight Commander was one of their sheep, they had more ready to take the man's place. And the man truly had been an incompetent. Incapable of properly playing the cloak and dagger game of court by disguising your intentions. It seemed much more like he honestly just wanted a more capable man in charge of the army, rather than it being an attack on the church.

The Pope sighed.

Even if they wanted to do something about it, what could they do? The Hero of the Sword was too cautious and too wise to be controlled, he was too allusive to be tracked, and he was too powerful to be beaten. He uncovered and took down three of their level 50 Shadows before any of them could even react. Any attempt to do anything about him might simply risk angering him. And while the church as a whole would likely survive such an onslaught, it just wasn't worth it.

They would have to wait for the Waves of Calamity to come, and hope that the Sword didn't become a problem.

* * *

"Ah, Shield Boy, its good to see you again!" The Blacksmith said with a smile as Naofumi walked into his shop.

"Hey, Oyaji-san. We've got some business if you've got some time." Naofumi said to the old man who was one of his few allies in this world.

"Sure, sure, I'll always have time for my little hero. What you need?" Oyaji asked.

"For starters, I'd like to get a blood-clean coating on Raphtalia's sword, since it doesn't seem to have one." Naofumi said, gesturing for Raphtalia to bring it out.

"A sword? Oy, don't tell me you've been going to other weapons shops behind my back? You're so cruel." Oyaji said, making his best attempt at a pout as he took the weapon.

"You think we could have? No, we got this for free from a wandering mercenary band we met by the road." Naofumi said as Oyaji opened pulled the sword out and looked at the blade.

The old man's eyes widened. "Oy oy, you said that you got this for free! Someone must have taken a serious liking to you, Shield Boy! This sword is made of meteorite ore! And the quality of its smithing… It's… wow."

"Is it really that amazing?" Raphtalia asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Amazing. That might be an understatement. Just give me a second." Oyaji said before going into the back of his shop and digging around. He came back moments later dragging along a large shield with a discolored black and gray face. Unlike everything else in the old man's shop, which had a beautiful elegance to it, the thing seemed thick, rough, and a little on the unwieldy side of heavy. "This is the shield prototype of the Meteorite Series of weapons, made from meteorite ore. Meteorite ore has a lot of natural anti-monster and magic properties that 'would' make for some incredible armor and weaponry, but it is legendarily difficult to work with. Even this piece here to nearly an entire year to make with extremely complicated experimental processes. It's thought to be worth at least five thousand gold coins. Now, compare this to what they just handed the young lady for free."

Naofumi did, looking from the rough discolored shield to the perfectly shaped, perfectly balanced, pure white short sword.

"This sword is beyond anything that I could make. I'd dare say that it is priceless." Oyaji said with a shake of his head. His eyes might have even been tearing up. Was it really that amazing of a weapon? "They didn't happen to tell you who the maker is, did they? It doesn't seem to have a blacksmith's seal on it."

"…I think it was probably that mercenary guy." Naofumi said as the wheels went around in his head. "The guy had some weird magic that allowed him to create objects out of pure magical energy. I'm betting that he created this sword using that."

"You mean it's a fake?" Oyaji said, bringing the weapon close to his face. "Looks pretty damn real to me. My appraisal status magic says that it is a sword made of meteorite ore and that is has a quality of Masterwork++. I didn't even know that the quality scale went that high."

"Well the fakes he made were good enough to fool even the Legendary Shield into accepting them as real." Naofumi said, a hand on the shield.

"What do you mean by that?" Oyaji asked, glancing at the shield.

"As it turns out, the Legendary Shield can copy any other shield and take on its form. The mercenary had me copy this." Naofumi said before turning his shield into the Blade Shield form and triggering the mechanism to cause the blade to extend outwards.

"…Do all of the Legendary Weapons have that ability?" Oyaji said a frown on his face.

"As far as I'm aware, yes. At least, one of the old Sword Heroes had the ability." Naofumi said.

"Those thieving little bastards!" Oyaji growled, slamming his fist on the meteorite shield hard enough to make the entire room shake. Naofumi momentarily wondered how high of a level the old man was. "The Spear and the Bow Heroes both came into my shop, tried out every weapon I had of their type and then left without buying a single thing! Don't they care at all about an artist's suffering!?"

"Hmph, some heroes." Naofumi agreed. Honestly, he wouldn't have cared at all if it had happened to anyone other than Oyaji-san. He'd probably even have done it himself and only felt a little guilty about it. But he would have never considered doing it to the old man. Oyaji was too good for that.

Oyaji took a deep breath and sighed. "So, do you want to copy this meteorite shield or not?" The old man asked.

"Oyaji, you know I can't afford to pay you for something like that." Naofumi said with a sigh.

"For you, consider it a free service. Copy whatever you'd like from my shop." Oyaji said with a shake of the head.

"Oyaji… Thanks." Naofumi said with a smile.

"As for the blood-clean coat, I'll do it just to have the chance to take a closer look at this sword." Oyaji said with a smile, lifting up the piece.

"Thank you very much, Oyaji-san!" Raphtalia said, giving the man a bow.

"You're very welcome, little lady." Oyaji replied. "So, anything else you need? You've already got swords and shields sorted out, so that only leaves armor, am I right?"

Naofumi opened his mouth to talk, but Raphtalia beat him too it. "That's right! Please make some armor for Naofumi-sama!"

"Huh?"

* * *

[Weapon Copy – Complete: Iron Meteorite Shield (0/40) – Quality: Normal – Base Defense: 31 – Equip Bonus: [Meteor Shield] (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%) – Level Requirement: 35]

* * *

"I just know Oyaji-san is going to do an amazing job with Naofumi-sama's armor." Raphtalia said cheerfully.

"In the future, don't go do things like that." Naofumi sighed. "We should be saving or money for your defense, not mine. Mine is covered by the shield."

"But its always Naofumi-sama that is the one taking the attacks." Raphtalia said before looking up at Naofumi with her large eyes. "I don't want you to get hurt and leave me alone."

…Dammit. Ever since she had willingly chosen to remain his slave, he had started to trust her for more reasons than just because the contract stopped her from betraying him. And he had started to care for her for more reasons than just his own survival. The little girl was starting to feel more like a daughter to him than an important tool.

Shirou had said that it was likely those feelings of closeness that had allowed him to grain the higher levels of the Slave User's Shield after absorbing Raphtalia's hair for the second time. He wasn't sure if it was true, or just that mercenary being a sap again. After the incident with that evil knife, Shirou's attitude changed drastically. He stopped acting so condescendingly towards Naofumi, save for when it came to how to properly wield a weapon. He often talked like an old man, rambling on about philosophy, the manning of life and the price of freedom.

The guy was weird and too convenient to be trusted... but Naofumi was actually sad to see him go.

"We should figure out the best way to invest the rest of our money." Naofumi said, after getting Raphtalia a temporary loose set of armor, since she was likely to outgrow it, and commissioning some armor for Naofumi himself, they had still had around 400 silver. Naofumi then sunk another 100 into convincing Oyaji to try to make some 'twin shields' as the Sword Hero of old had managed to get a [Dual Wielder] ability from a pair of swords that possessed a 'joint identity'. It was a gamble, because he had never heard of twin shields being a thing, but if it worked then it would be an incredible boon.

Normally such commissions would take weeks to complete, but Oyaji told them that he would make sure to get it all done in two days, just for Naofumi.

"Um… I don't know. Our needs seem to have been taken care of." Raphtalia admitted.

That was when Naofumi saw a carriage go by, pulled by a more normal Filolial. "Hm… a tamed monster might not be a bad idea." He did after all have a Beast-Tamer series to try out and having something for transport wouldn't be such a bad idea.

With his Shield's built it functions to deal with the storage and processing of foods, it wouldn't even be that hard to feed it, so long as they hunted enough monsters.

Sure, why not.

* * *

 **This is the last we will be seeing of Naofumi until right before the Wave.**


	23. Chapter 23

"I think that was the last of them." Rita said with a sigh as she pulled her spear out of the corpse of an eight-foot-tall green ant.

"Rita, you are never supposed to say those words before you have even checked." Shirou said with a small smile as the ground began to shake. The earth was pushed up as an even larger ant climbed out from underneath them, its pincers clacking. The creature shook itself, sending bits of dirt flying all around it before it spread its wings, preparing to take flight.

"Earthen Flare." "Tzuvait Tornado!"

Green flames grew from the ground, spreading across the monster's outer shell, quickly fed by the summoned winds in order to grow into a fire storm the quickly cooked the creature alive, its liquidous insides of it expanding so fast that it caused the monster to burst outwards from its shell, popping like a balloon.

"We got it!" Firo cheered, with Azu giving a nod of confirmation.

Firo and Azu had bonded over the last week sleeping together in their pajamas and collecting random objects to hide throughout the carriage. It seemed that the tendency for birds to accept anything they find in their nest at the moment of waking as part of the flock overcame the instinct against dragons, and Azu seemed to have a similar ingrained instinct from her grandfather's side of the family. They still had a bit of competitive spirit between them, but they no longer had their passive aggressive spats.

"No more monsters drawling on the power of the Dragon's Pulse. That was the last of them." Azu said with certainty.

"Alright then. We'll keep the head of the big one as proof of the job's completion. Jian, the rest is yours." Shirou said before starting to absorb the various corpses from around the battlefield.

Jian didn't even wait for instructions. She quickly absorbed the corpses whole before dismantling them and then processing the individual pieces a second time.

Requirement met: [Worker Green Lion Ant Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 3 – Equip Bonus: Attack +1 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Worker Green Lion Ant Plate Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 2 – Equip Bonus: Defense +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Worker Green Lion Ant Pincer Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Speed +1, Attack +1 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Worker Green Lion Ant Claw Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 4 – Equip Bonus: Dexterity +2, Attack +1 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Worker Green Lion Ant Meat Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 2 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Soldier Green Lion Ant Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 6 – Equip Bonus: Attack +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Soldier Green Lion Ant Plate Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 5 – Equip Bonus: Defense +3 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Soldier Green Lion Ant Pincer Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Speed +2, Attack +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Soldier Green Lion Ant Claw Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Dexterity +4, Attack +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Soldier Green Lion Ant Meat Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 2 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +2 (mastered)]

Requirement met: [Queen Green Lion Ant Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 12 – Equip Bonus: Attack +4 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Queen Green Lion Ant Plate Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 10 – Equip Bonus: Defense +4 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Queen Green Lion Ant Claw Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 16 – Equip Bonus: Dexterity +8, Attack +4 (unmastered)]

Requirement met: [Queen Green Lion Ant Meat Sword Unlocked – Base Power: 4 – Equip Bonus: Cooking +4 (unmastered)]

It had been an important discovery that Rita had made by observing Naofumi's behavior, in that rather than absorbing the monsters whole, Naofumi absorbed each piece individually, separating the parts in such a way so that each one of them provided the Legendary Weapon with a unique form.

Because of this, each unique monster type provided anywhere from 4–8 new weapon forms, rather than just the 1. And this was something that Naofumi figured out by himself. It was actually ingenious, taking advantage of the concept of a single existence being a composition of several forms.

Shirou could almost hear Rin having given him this same exact lesson years back, one hand on hip while juggling a piece of chalk with the other. If Naofumi wasn't a magus, he would have made a damn good one.

Not only that, Shirou was able to discover that one could 'master' a weapon form without using it in combat, simply by having it equip for an extended period of time or feeding the material used to unlock the form over and over again until it was mastered.

Naofumi probably didn't know it, but his stats were likely twice as high as they would have been without knowing that little trick, maybe even more. After having reprocessed all the random clutter in Jian's subspace, Shirou's stats all received a very sizable boost as his number of mastered weapon forms doubled, closing some of the numbers gap that had started to show up between him and his party members.

It also explained why Fitoria assumed that Shirou would be a master chef, just because he was a Legendary Hero. With each type of monster granting a small bonus to cooking skills, the numbers added up quickly.

And this was just from what he learned by observing the Shield Hero, the one reported to having the least idea of what was going on. It made Shirou even more sure of his decision to try to track down Motoyasu and Itsuki to try to find out what they knew about growing the Legendary Weapons. Shirou's eyes couldn't detect any methods that didn't directly affect one of the Legendary Weapon's individual forms, such as Naofumi's way of cutting up his prey. But this didn't mean he might not still learn something at just a glance if he was lucky, and if not, he might be able to smooth talk some information out of them. They probably weren't in the mood to share with other heroes, but they might open up to a random mercenary… or if they had no other option, an admittedly attractive fox girl. After all, Motoyasu had claim to have died for his womanizing ways. Hell, give Lancer a barrel or two of some kind of liquor and a pretty woman to talk to and he would probably tell you anything you want to know. So long as that woman wasn't a Yandere.

*Zap*

"I wasn't even talking about you." Shirou hissed as Jian punished him for even thinking the forbidden word.

"Is something wrong Sensei?" Rita asked, seeing Shirou stiffen from the jolt of pain.

"I'm fine." Shirou said, quickly dismissing her worries. "We're just about finished cleaning up here, so let's go head back to town and tell the baron that the job is done."

"Alright Sensei, but is it really alright for us to be doing this? I mean, shouldn't we be in more of a hurry to find the other two heroes or reach Zeltbull's Hourglass before the next Wave hits?" Rita asked. It had been six days since they had left the Shield Hero and his companion behind, and in that time, they had gone from town to town hunting unruly monsters and asking around about the other Heroes.

And while they received no short supply of news about the Spear Hero, the guy seemed to be moving around and gathering attention in so many places that it was difficult to determine what news was the newest, and almost no one had heard or seen the Bow Hero. So rather than chasing after rumors of the Heroes, they had just started to chase after rumors about dangerous monster populations. Going from poor town to poor town, helping the people who couldn't afford to pay for the Adventurers Guild to come and protect them, and whose problems weren't considered pressing enough to get the attention of the national army either.

Though once they got into Zeltbull territory, there wasn't any Adventurers' Guild or national army for them to even call on. People didn't even bat an eye at them being mercenaries after that, as it was the cultural norm for mercenaries to be called on for all their monster problems. They were only surprised by the cheap as dirt rates and how they never asked for payment up front.

"Maybe, but if we just rush from one place to another, then we won't level up or improve Jian. Besides, there is nothing wrong with us helping out a few settlements along our way." Shirou assured her. "We have time. The Wave in Melromarc won't be for another seven days, and Zeltbull's won't be for even longer. The best think we can do is help out who we can and grow our power. While the Wave in Siltvelt had been easy enough to handle, the Waves will likely get stronger and stronger."

"I guess you are right. I just feel nervous about the upcoming Wave. I think it would be easier on me to just be dropped into the middle of it unaware like in Siltvelt, rather than this waiting and seeing it build on the horizon." Rita admitted.

"Stress is the enemy. A soldier must learn how to use any available free time in order to manage it." Shirou said with a knowing nod. "Want to learn how to cook?"

* * *

"Now the oils are going to be what moves the heat around the fastest, so try to move the pan around like this in order to get a good spread of the stuff. Don't worry about getting it perfect, a bit of variance in your dish is a good thing. We just want it all to be done around the same time." Shirou said as he held onto the frying pan with Rita and helped guide her.

"Like this?" Rita asked nervously.

"That's great, though you should try to loosen up a bit more. This is supposed to be relaxing you." Shirou chuckled.

"S…sorry." The girl said, flushing with embarrassment. Even though only a single tail was visible, Shirou could feel her twin tails batting against him.

Since with just a single ninja belt on hand, Shirou could trace just about as many as he needed to have, he gave one of the belts to Rita so that she could hide her second tail, which had been an attention grabber everywhere they had went. The belts required a constant supply of MP in order to continue functioning, but with Rita's high magic supply, it wasn't too difficult for her to maintain. It just worked as a sort of training weight when she was practicing magic, as it made it more difficult to cast her debuff curses and fire spells, since he would have to divide her focus between the belt and her casting. It was actually a good training, as dividing one's focus was key for a caster on the battlefield.

With the remaining belt, Shirou had fed it to Jian to see what would come out of it. He was mildly disappointed when the [Camouflage Sword] camouflaged Jian rather than disguising Shirou himself. It was a useful trick though, since it cost no MP or SP and could prevent people from seeing the very obvious blue crystal that was in all of Jian's forms. It also had the added bonus of 'Status Magic Disguise', making it so that Shirou could alter his status menu to display a different name, race, job, level, gender, and so on. Meaning that if anyone tried to call him out, he could quickly prove that he wasn't.

The inn keeper was more than happy to let Shirou take over his kitchen, so long as he cooked for his cliental. The man was very happy about this decision as people began to eat more and more food. And then, when Firo decided that she liked the music that was being played, she began to sing and dance, drawing in even more people, until half the town seemed to be crammed into the large inn's common room.

"Well isn't this a touching sight." Someone said as the door to the kitchen opened and an elderly woman came in. Rita jumped and pulled away from Shirou, almost causing her to spill out the contains of the pan. "Oh, don't mind me dearies. It's just got a little too excited in the main room and I thought I would rest myself in here for a smidge. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Shirou said with a smile as he moved to take a duck that was roasting out of the oven, turning his back to her. The old woman moved over to a chair and made a big show of sitting down. "Since you are here, am I to assume that Naofumi-san is doing well, degojaru?" Shirou said with a bit of amusement in his voice.

The 'old woman' stiffened before sitting up straight. The wrinkled on her face disappeared and a bright blond color returned to her grey hair as the age seemed to flow out of her. The common brown clothes changing into a jet black. "What gave me away, degojaru?" The Shadow asked, sounding a bit annoyed at having been called out.

"Nothing, your disguise was perfect." Shirou said, not bothering to turn around.

"Then how did you know it was me, degojaru?" The Shadow asked more insistently.

"That would be a trade secret." Shirou said, putting up the duck and wiping his hands before turning around the face the Shadow. "Is this what you really look like, or just another mask?"

"…I hate you, degojaru." The Shadow grumbled.

"Sensei, who is this?" Rita asked, perplexed by the casual conversation between Shirou and the not-an-old-lady.

"A messenger from what I expect to be our next employer, am I right?" Shirou asked the Shadow.

The Shadow glared at Shirou for a few seconds before finally speaking. "You are the Sword Hero, degojaru." She said in an accusing manner.

"Hm, is that who you think I am?" Shirou said, just continuing to tease the woman.

"We found out about the band of mercenaries in Siltvelt, degojaru. The one with the Royal Filolial and the two tailed Kitsune, degojaru. The one that just so happened to be in the exact place the Sword Hero was last confirmed to be in at the exact moment that he disappeared, degojaru. Then there is the information you had about the workings of the Legendary Weapons, and how you made your party members assist the Shield Hero rather than doing it yourself, degojaru." The Shadow said, putting forward the evidence against Shirou. "All facts point towards you being the Sword Hero, degojaru."

"You seem to have done your homework. However, I'm not the Sword Hero. You can take a look at my status menu if you don't believe me." Shirou said.

"Do you think I don't know about the belts you stole, degojaru? You will just fake your status, degojaru." The Shadow scoffed. Shirou hadn't really expected that to work anyways.

"So, I can't prove that I am not a liar, because as a liar anything I say is a lie." Shirou hummed, irritating the Shadow more. "Fine then, let's say that I was the Sword Hero, what would your boss want with me then?"

"…Having a proven Hero on hand, and whose assistance can be used as a bargaining chip, will help in delegations, degojaru. At the moment, the other countries are concerned that they will not be receiving proper assistance with their Waves, degojaru. Having a Hero that can act outside of Melromarc without tipping off the Heretic Church would put their minds at ease, degojaru." The Shadow summarized what the Queen was hoping for.

"Is that so." Shirou said, turning more serious. "So, the Queen just needs me to promise to go around and synchronize myself with all of the nations Hourglasses, is that right?"

"Correct." Shadow said with a short nod.

"Wait, the Queen?" Rita said, realizing just who they were about to be working for.

"Where are the delegations happening?" Shirou asked the Shadow.

"In the capital of Zeltbull, as the country was considered a religiously and politically neutral zone." The Shadow said.

"More like a no man's land, though it is convenient for us. At Firo's full speed we could be there in just a few hours. Does your Queen mind us arriving after dark?" Shirou asked as he started to clean the kitchen.

"Sleeping arrangements can be made at the embassy, where the Queen herself is staying, degojaru. If you can be there before the meeting next morning, it would be for the best, degojaru." The Shadow said.

"Rita, go and inform Firo and the innkeeper that we have an emergency call to deal with. I'll cleanup here." Shirou told Rita.

"Yes, Sensei." Rita said, before heading for the door.

"So, you aren't going to deny that you are the Sword Hero any longer, degojaru?" The Shadow asked in a slightly smug voice.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm merely a mercenary." Shirou replied with a smile. "Outside of the Melromarc Waves or the absolutely necessary political events, the man does not exist. In my experience, having Heroes around only creates unnecessary messes."

"You are a strange man, degojaru." The Shadow said with a shake of the head.

"So I've been told."

* * *

"Master, Firo's getting tired." Firo said as they walked through the streets of Zeltbull, past many suspicious looking people who all stopped to stare at the talking Filolial with looks on their faces that told Shirou that they would try to take her the moment his back was turned.

Their funeral.

"I know. I'm sorry we've kept you up so late, but we are almost there. Right Yami?" Shirou said, glancing to the Shadow who was sitting in the back of the carriage.

"Yes, we are, degojaru. It's just three more building off in that direction, degojaru." The woman said, resigning herself to the nickname. Shirou had insisted on giving her one, as merely calling her Shadow, like all the other Shadows, was starting to make him feel like a racist. As if all Shadows were exactly the same.

Of course, this just upset her because he wasn't supposed to be able to differentiate one Shadow from the others.

The Embassy was built like a prison, with high walls and tight security. The guards on station brought out arms against Shirou's group until Yami produced a document signed by the Queen to allow their entry, after which they were still searched, and all their weapons confiscated until further notice.

Yami told them that they shouldn't have bothered, but that didn't stop them. They were professionals, and unlike the man left at the palace, the Queen's Guard weren't going to let Shirou through unescorted just because he was supposed to be a Legendary Hero.

Firo and Azu almost threw a fit when the guards searched the carriage and found their collection of shiny objects. The Guards would have all probably been beaten into the ground if it wasn't for Shirou interfering and getting the Guards to leave the shinies alone.

Feeling the intense murderous aura coming from the girls and seeing that the assortments of bits of metal and pretty rocks wasn't dangerous, the Guards gladly agreed to leave it untouched.

"Master, are you sure its alright to leave Firo's carriage with these people?" Firo asked, as they took the carriage away towards a shed for storage.

"Don't worry Firo, I put those tracker runes on it, remember. Even if someone tries to steal your carriage, we can still track them down. So don't worry." Shirou said, patting the bird on her neck. "Now how about you change into your human form so that we can all go inside."

"You might want to hold off on that, degojaru." Yami said, back in her completely neutral voice. Her appearance had changed entirely into the standard Shadow form as soon as they were behind the gate walls. "Her Majesty and the Princess Melty are both very fond of Legends, particularly those about the Queen of the Filolial, Fitoria, degojaru. They will likely be thrilled to see one of the mythical Royal Filolial in their true form, degojaru."

"Really, they want to see Firo?" Firo said with a tilt of her head.

"I'm sure they do, degojaru." Yami replied.

They were led to the main building where they were searched again. Shirou half considered starting to trace random weapons all over his body just to fuck with the guards, but it was late and the kids really did need to get to bed. After they were again given the clear, they were allowed to walk through the front door of the building and Shirou's legs nearly locked in shock.

"Rider?" He said under his breath as he saw the woman with bright purple hair framing a perfectly symmetrical face with a slightly high forehead. Give her a pair of glasses, and the woman could have been Rider's twin, only dressed in the clothes of a medieval duchess or queen, with her hair done up and holding up a fan rather than a thinly disguised adult novel.

"I thank you for coming so quickly. I am Mirellia Q Melromarc, the Queen and ruler of Melromarc. I hope that we can learn to count on one and other, Hero of the Sword-sama."

* * *

 **I've been asked to point out that Firo is Filo. As in they are the same word, and that the Japanese use 'r' and 'l' interchangeably. Firo is what they used in the webnovel and if you look at the top of the story under characters, it has Firo as the spelling on this site too. I know that some people would prefer to see Filo, as it is what they used in the anime and most of the manga, but there is something about 'Filo' that just fucks with my dyslexia and every time I see it if feels like I am being hit in the face with a two-by-four and my reading comes to a sudden stop.**

 **So yeah, I use Firo.**

 **I'm not going to make a habit of out having the long lists of new weapons. It was just something to give people the proper scale to understand why Naofumi was actually pretty damn strong, even without considering the cursed series. The other heroes didn't know about how each part of the body could be used to unlock multiple forms. So Naofumi had a lot more weapons than they did giving small stat boosts that quickly added up.**

 **This is also why his cooking was much better than theirs, because they didn't know about the meat series. Arguably the most important series to have.**

* * *

 **Guest:"Did you get someone else to write your Author Name for you? I don't know enough about dyslexia to know if you can temporarily overcome it or something. Dunno why I never thought about this before when I read all your stuff."**

 **I couldn't tell if this was meant as some kind of asshole comment, but I laughed when I saw it, because it is true in a way.**

 **I used to have to have people help me fill out all of the paperwork involved in the disabilities forms because I couldn't for the life of me remember how to spell dyslexia. I would curse the name of whatever bastard decided to have such an impossible to read word as the label used to a reading disability, thinking that he must have done it as a cruel joke.**

 **Even now, after something like eighteen years of being labeled as dyslexic, I often trip up every time I have to read the word, and I type it more out of muscle memory than anything else.**


	24. Chapter 24

Mirellia Q Melromarc watched the Hero of the Sword, trying to get a feel for the man. He seemed momentarily surprised at having seen her. Not the normal sort of nervous shock of having suddenly found oneself face to face with a powerful ruler of men. It seemed more of a bewildered expression.

"Queen? Hey Master, is this woman like Fitoria? Is she really powerful too? Is the reason she wants to see Firo to give Firo another crowning? Firo doesn't want that! Queens should just leave Firo's head alone! NO!" Now it was Mirellia's turn to be bewildered as the largest Filolial she had ever seen started to cry out and shake its head aback and forth.

"She really does talk! Oh wow!" Melty said, forgetting all of her lady-like manners and rushing forward to meet the Filolial. "You said your name is Firo, right? Please Firo, would you be my friend?"

A small smile entered the Queen's expression as she watched her daughter pure act as she reached into her pocket and pulled out some of the dried meats, she kept on hand for feeding Filolials.

It was hard to imagine that two people as manipulative as herself and her husband could produce such an open-hearted little girl. As much as the Queen hated to admit it, it was actually her first daughter that took after her parents. Though Malty had none of the sense of duty that kept her mother and father's scheming natures in check.

Or at least, Aultcray had used to put his duty and the good of the people before everything else. Now he was pointlessly tried to pursue some kind of vengeance against a man who had never commented any crime against him. Even when the Queen had sent him a letter, ordering him to stop his foolishness, he had claimed it was a fake and ripped it up. It was disappointing. Just another showing of how the man she had once loved was gone. He'd died twenty years ago, and his corpse had been slowly decomposing more and more ever since until she could hardly recognize what remained.

"Melty, how about you take Firo and her friends to their rooms. I need to speak with Fugimaru-sama." The Queen said.

"Fugimaru-sama?" The Sword Hero repeated, seeming confused for a moment before chuckling. "I forgot I said that when the King asked for my name. Sorry, but that is not actually my real name."

"…You gave a fake name at your introduction?" The Queen asked the man. He seemed to have recovered from whatever shock he had suffered when first entering the room.

"In the World I came from, there is a ritual called 'summon servant' which summons the soul of a powerful legend individual into physical form. Needless to say, to selfishly summon such a being without a means of controlling it is considered suicide. When I was first summoned into this world, I assumed that people would attempt to bind me in the same way. For all I knew, there was a form of magic in this world that could enslave a man by knowing his true name. So I lied." The Hero of the Sword informed her. "If you wish to keep calling me Fugimaru Issei, that is fine, though my real name is Emiya Shirou. I've found out that Heroes can't be bond by contracts in this world, so there is no harm in telling you."

"I see, so your name as a mercenary is your true one." The Queen said thoughtfully. "Because of your actions in Siltvelt, it might be beneficial to us to expose your mercenary identity to the delegates. However, I doubt that they will reveal it to the general population. They have yet to admit to the fact that the Sword Hero was ever present in Siltvelt at all. However, if you desire to keep your identity secret, I will respect those wishes."

"Whatever needs to be done to avoid unnecessary conflict is fine. However, I would like to make a request about tonight's sleeping arrangements and just have a single large room for my party." Emiya requested. The Queen's mouth twitched into a smile as she looked over the two pretty girls and the bird, who was said to possess the ability to turn into a young girl herself. Well, great men have great desires, she supposed. "Don't give me that look. It isn't about anything like that, so get your mind out of the gutter."

"Oh, if not for that, then why do would wish to only have a single room." The Queen asked, rather curious.

"We are in unknown territory without the means to defend ourselves in our sleep. I have to consider my charges saf…" Emiya started to say before the Kitsune girl, Rita, clapped her hands over his mouth.

"Sensei, you can't say that to the Queen!" The girl hissed in the man's ear.

"If that is how you feel, it can be arranged." The Queen said. After a few instructions, Melty and the other girls went further into the building to find their room, while the Queen, her Shadow, and Emiya moved to the Queen's temporary office study.

There was a bit of alarm from the guards when Emiya pulled a sword out of nowhere and handed it to Rita, telling the girl to be on guard against any intruder, even if it looks like him, until he proves his identity. The girl seemed worried about how open her teacher was being about his paranoia but seemed to be used to the instruction.

"Thank you for being accommodating for my cautious behavior." Emiya said as they moved behind closed doors.

"It's fine. Given what happened to Iwatani-sama, I cannot blame you for any amount of distrust you have for my family. I hope you will believe me though when I say that I had nothing to do with it, that I have done everything I can to mitigate the damage, and that I fully intent to make emends as soon as the threat of war is over." The Queen said with a short nod. She suspected that earning the man's trust would be an uphill battle.

"If I didn't trust in your intention here, I would be on the other side of the continent by now, with a new face, name, age, and occupation, and new identities for my companions as well." Emiya said with a shake of his head. "I interrogated Yami in such a way that there was no way that she could have misled me. Unless you have been lying to your own Shadows, I know that you are indeed trying to stabilize the political situation, and that you weren't involved in or covering for your daughter's crimes. That said, you are a politician, and therefore twofaced by nature. Some leaders would take hostages to force my compliance if they were in your shoes. While the kids are strong, they are still vulnerable."

Yami? She wasn't aware that the Shadow's name was Yami. She didn't even know that Shadows had names.

The Queen glanced at Yami who fidgeted ever so slightly at the mention of her interrogation. It had taken a good deal of convincing to get the woman to accept that it wasn't her fault, and that it even had been beneficial to the Queen more than harmful.

"Then I should be grateful for this one's high opinion of me, since it has managed to win me a foot in the door." The Queen said with a grateful smile. Emiya's face shifted uncomfortably at the smile before settling on a serious expression.

"Let's get down to business. You are going to be bargaining away my assistance. How are we playing this, negotiating from a position of power, damage control, or the 'get your priorities straight' talk?" Emiya asked, folding his arms in front of him.

"Damage control. Empty threats won't work when the people we are meeting with are being pressed from behind by their own populous. If given the choice between the sword in front or the sword behind, most choose the one that seems the most heroic, no matter how damaging. As for priorities, many among those still vocal against us are religious extremist who worship the Shield Hero. They don't consider anything to be of a higher priority than him." The Queen said calmly. "The meeting tomorrow morning will be discussing the progress made by the Shield Hero. So far, Siltvelt is boasting about how it was their man who assisted him. However, if you reveal yourself and calm to have been working for us, it will take the wind out of their sails and support the image that we are doing everything we can to make sure that Iwatani-sama doesn't fall behind, while still luring out the dissident factions."

"Anyone who would recognize me there?" Emiya asked.

"Your general description was circulated. But no." The Queen admitted. "Though if you would bring your companions with you, there would be nothing they could do to deny who you are. They each have what could be said to be a one of a kind appearance."

Emiya's half grunted, showing that he didn't enjoy the idea of bringing his companions into the vipers' den, but he nodded his consent.

"Alright, we will go over each of the delegates in attendance individually and cover their mentality, the factions which back them, their stance on Melromarc and their agendas in relation to the summoned heroes." The Queen said, finally taking a seat and bring out some paper. She then paused. "Are you able to read our language as of yet?"

"…I'm rather slow, but I've been practicing." Emiya admitted.

"Good, it will make this easier. Sh…Yami, how about getting us some tea. This could take a while." The Queen said, smiling slightly.

"Just how many delegates are there?" Emiya asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Just twenty." The Queen told him, as if it was no big deal. "If we start now, we should be done in around three hours."

The Sword Hero flinched, and then sighed. "I hate politics."

* * *

Rita sat at the small table in the room provided for the party, trying to read a book on magic by the candlelight. She couldn't help but to be nervous. Her Sensei had been gone a while. He had placed her in charge of watching over Firo and Azu, and so while the other two girls had gone to sleep, Rita stayed awake, waiting for Shirou to return.

Strangely enough, Princess Melty had decided to stay in the room with them and spent nearly an hour talking to and trying to groom Firo before they finally tired themselves out and went to sleep.

That girl seemed to love Filolials a little too much. Rita preferred not to think about what the Queen would think if she came in and saw her daughter squeezed into the same lion themed pajamas as Firo in her human form. Neither girl was wearing anything inside of it, as they complained that it would have been too hot if they did.

Yes, the princess was ten, and Firo was only a few months old, but it really seemed as though they should have understood that they shouldn't be doing this. Rita had tried to explain to them why such a thing was different than sharing a bed while clothed, but Firo didn't seem to get it and Melty just wanted to sleep with Firo and won't listen.

When Rita heard footsteps in the hallway, she drew the sword she had been given and readied herself before the doorknob even started to turn. Even after seeing her sensei standing there, she didn't lower her weapon until he pulled a dagger with a large ruby in the pummel out of thin air, the signal that everything was all clear.

"What's kept you?" Rita asked as Shirou walked in and took a seat.

"I just received a crash course on all of global politics in preparation for an international meeting that will decide the future of the world. They won't about to skip out on the details." Shirou said with a tired sigh. "God, I wish Rin was here. She was better at dealing with these kinds of things than me."

"Rin?" Rita asked.

"Huh? Have I never mentioned her?" Shirou said, sounding a bit surprised. "Well, Rin is the one who pretty much taught me everything I know about how to use magecraft properly. She's also a genius when it comes to manipulation and politics. Gotten me through a few accidently scraps with big name people."

"So, she is your sensei… not your lover?" Rita couldn't stop herself from asking. She had wondered for a while if there was someone special waiting for him back home. He didn't talk about his home world much, as he was too busy helping her with weapons and magic or talking with her about the difference between right and wrong and how grey everything was. She knew that he had been involved in a disaster when he was young, and that he had a complicated relationship postmortem with his adopted father, but beyond that, Shirou's life was a mystery to her.

"…Ah… That's… complicated." Shirou said with a slight wince. "The truth is, I'm actually in a stable relationship with three women back home, and no I am not cheating. Everyone knows exactly what is going on."

"Yo…you have a… a harem?" Rita stuttered, a little shocked. While the idea of women desiring her sensei wasn't at all hard to believe, she hadn't really thought that her sensei was that kind of man. "I… I see. Well, great men have great desires, I suppose." She mumbled, starting to turn red.

"More like great women have great desires. Rin still jokingly insists that it is her harem, not mine." Shirou said with a small chuckle, though the laughter fell off into a hollow sound. "The four of us barely managed to weather a sort of war that nearly destroyed our world. After it was over, we were all together. We ended up seeing the worst parts of each of us during that war, as well as the best. Kind of felt natural that we would all be more than just friends."

"A war that nearly destroyed your world?" Rita said slowly. It did sound romantic… though wasn't it almost the exact same thing that was happening now? Rita fought down a blush at the thought. "So even before you were summoned, you were already a hero."

"…No. I really wasn't." Shirou said sadly. "I could never call myself a hero. In truth, I was closer to being a villain than a hero. I did something that no ally of justice would ever have done, and I will never regret it."

"You aren't a villain." Rita said harshly. She didn't get it. She didn't get why her sensei refused to identify himself as a hero. Why he claimed that even if people called him one, that they were wrong.

Just like all the other times, he smiled sadly and just shook his head. "I keep telling you, you can't be a pure and righteous hero unless you have nothing to lose. Everyone becomes a villain, if you threaten to take their world away from them. But being a villain isn't so bad. It's easier to live as a villain than as a hero. To fight without everything that is worth fighting for." He closed his eyes as Rita glared at him with a pout. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger. I refused to listen to myself at first too. It's why I'm worried about you. You'd understand better if I just told you about what happened during the war, about the choice I was forced to make."

"Why? What happened?" Rita asked.

"…It's a long story, and its late. You should get some sleep." Shirou told her.

Rita frowned. "No. If anyone should get some sleep, it's you. You're the one who has to face a room full of blood suckers tomorrow."

"We're all going to have to go." Shirou commented.

"Even if I go, I won't be expected to talk. You. Sleep. Now." Rita said, pointing to an unoccupied bed. "Either sleep or tell me your story. Which is it going to be?"

Shirou opened his mouth to object when something fell out of Jian's blue crystal orb. The small energy potion landed on the floor with the sound of a small marble falling, drawing the two's eyes.

"It seems Jian thinks that you should tell me now." Rita said, crossing her arms underneath her chest. She had learned that once the opinionated sword decided something, it was difficult for Shirou to talk her out of it. What Rita didn't know was that Jian was just as interested to hear the story as she was.

"Alright, you two win." Shirou said with a sigh, bringing the potion to his lips. The area effect of the potion caused by Jian's abilities rejuvenated Rita as well, making her feel like she had just woken up from a long rest. "Now... where do I even being? I suppose I should start by talking about the kind of people most of the magic users of my world are like. Those cutthroat and single-minded people who care about nothing but furthering their research, and don't care how many innocent lives are sacrificed in its pursuit. That's the reason it all happened. They were trying to rediscover a lost art, the Third True Magic, also known as the Heaven's Feel."

* * *

A legendary artifact containing an unbelievable lost magic power. Seven mages and the heroes they summoned to fight over it in a blooded war. The reunion of long-lost family. An evil warlock that threatened the lives of everyone by corrupting an innocent maiden. A young man who stepped up and risked it all to protect the people he cared about. A god of evil that lay in wait in order to take advantage of them all and destroy the world.

It was like the stories from fairy tales. The kind of thing told to children in order to inspire them. Only rather than the excited tones of the grandfather telling the story, there was instead Shirou's hollow voice as he recounted the events. Rather than being a story of a proud hero, it was a mortal man who understood the severity of what had been happening. Of the people who were dying without ever even knowing what was going on. Of insane, monstrous beings who stood above everyone else like gods. And of an impossible choice.

Risk the destruction of the world or kill someone you love.

Rita finally understood. Her sensei had made the choice to risk the lives of everyone in order to save the few people he held the most dear. While it sounded romantic, and like something someone from a fairy tale would do, it was not what a Hero of Justice would do. A Hero of Justice does not risk the lives of many just to save a few.

However, even though Shirou turned his back on his dream of being a Hero of Justice, he didn't regret it. Though many who knew what happened called him a mad fool, or even a monster for his choice, he still had the people he love, making their opinions no longer matter to him. Between him and Archer, he had been the much happier man, despite not having acted like a hero. Or rather, because he had chosen not to be a hero.

'Rin once said that the world is just another name for everything that matters. So in the end, I chose to save my world.'

The way he said it made Rita realize something. "Sensei, you hate this world, don't you?"

"…Hate is a rather strong word." Shirou said slowly, his eyes distant. "I understand it. I understand why I was summoned and why it's so important. I know that all the people on this planet are depending on me… But if someone had given me the option to return home, to be there for my sister and the rest of the people I love, I would have taken it in a heartbeat and worried about this world later."

An awkward silence followed before Rita's emotions bubbled up and she couldn't help but to ask what she knew was a cruel question. "And what about us? What about me and Firo and Aru. Don't we matter? Aren't we part of your world too!?"

"Rita… I…" Shirou hesitated, not able to find the words to say.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door that caused Shirou's hand to go to Jian. "Hero-sama, her Majesty wishes to inform you that it is time to begin preparations for today's meeting. Please gather your party and held to the entry hall. We will be preparing your breakfast shortly." A servant said from the other side of the doorway.

"Alright, we will be there shortly!" Shirou declared, getting up from the table. He glanced down at Rita who was still looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Don't ever think that I don't care about you all. Some choices are just harder than others to make." He said, his voice barely more than a whisper, not able to meet her eyes.

* * *

"Thank you all for coming. Let us see if we cannot move these debates along to a more productive resolution for everyone." The diplomat from Faubley said in a tone that Shirou could only describe as wheezily. Unlike the rest of the people present, this man was not a ruler of any kind, nor was Faubley the host country, and yet he was still acting as the 'Speaker' for those present. Just went to show just how much influence Faubley had.

The country was widely regarded as the strongest in the world and was considered particularly cutthroat even by the normal standards of medieval politics. This particular man earned his position by having murdered the previous two chief ambassadors, though nothing was proven.

While Faubley had not been particularly affected by Melromarc summoning the four heroes, the ambassador wasn't about to let them get away with it. Less because of indignation at the fact that they breached international treaty, and more because they wanted to see if they could get any kind of land settlement or favorable trade contract out of it.

Classic politician.

However, Faubley wasn't really pressing for war and the Queen had assured Shirou that she knew a way to make their King fold, if necessary. Though the way she said it made Shirou sure that it was something particularly unpleasant.

"Now, before we began, the Her Majesty, Mirellia Q Melromarc, Queen of Melromarc, has requested the right to introduce another party to our gathering." The man said, gesturing towards the Queen to give her the chance to speak. The Queen then in turn gave Shirou a signal to introduce himself.

She had situated him in such a way to draw as much attention as possible before his reveal, by having him wearing the same Hakuko disguise he wore in Siltvelt and sitting in the chair right next to her own, with his companions behind him, none of them hiding their real appearances at all. Like the Queen said, the girl's appearances were unique enough that most in the room seemed to have a good idea as to who they were from mere rumors. Then by having Shirou sitting right next to her, she gave the impression that the two of them were equals, further increasing the curiosity of the crowd.

"Thank you Speaker, for allowing me into this meeting. Allow me to introduce myself." Shirou said as he got up from his seat. He dismissed the long white and black wig with the animal ears, allowing it to disappear into flakes of light and revealing his much shorter red and white hair. He also changed Jian into her more standard and iconic form. There were even some gasps among those gathered as they recognized who Shirou was. "I am Emiya Shirou, the Hero of the Sword."

* * *

 **Rita isn't being a bitch pulling a low blow. She's 15 and an orphan. She's emotionally dependent on Shirou, so naturally she freaks at the thought that he will someday leave. How do you think you would react as a child if your parents told you that they might leave and never come back?**

* * *

 **To save me from having to write it myself, I'm just pasting a comment from a guest.**

 **Guest:"Have seen some comments questioning why the girls liked Naofumi. For those who have not read the light novel or web novel this is a very minor spoiler. All animals seem to like him. In his home world he talked about mean cats who clawed other kids for being close would allow him to pet them. Or as a younger kid a neighbors dog would let him ride on its back like a horse. In the new world animals/domestic monsters all like him. So no surprise a filoial or dragon seem to like him right away. Another character theorized that because Naofumi is the strongest defender of all, animals have a sense of security by him. No confirmation for sure on that last bit."**

* * *

 ***Spoiler for the Web Novel, but funny (sort of)***

 **I'm not sure if they have this in the Light Novel, but in the Web Novel, Melty loses her virginity to Firo during the Spear of Lust IV incident. (Motoyasu, your perverted moron) With Naofumi's opinion on the matter being 'Better her than me.' (It was also said that they had already started practicing kissing each other before that, though that might have just been Firo licking people and counting that as kissing.)**

* * *

 ***Spoiler for my story and not funny in the slightest.***

 **I think my interpretation of the Colosseum in this world is a bit darker than everyone else's. It is stated that the only way to gain experience points is to actually kill something, not just fight it. Meaning how do you think little 12 year old Fohr managed to become level 32 fighting in the Colosseum? Most of the fights aren't against captured monsters. If you assume that EXP gained from humans is a lot more potent than EXP from monsters, then it would explain why Fohr was such a high level at such a young age, as well as why Ren started trying to kill people for EXP when he went insane, and why there was the level 75 former gladiator slave when most knights seem to be around level 20.**

 **How many of the other slaves do you think little Fohl had to kill in order to win his sister's medicine? Worse yet, the kid is a barehanded fighter, so he probably had to literally strangle the life out of his opponents.**


	25. Chapter 25

War is were old men talk and young men die.

These people disgusted him.

"Hahaha, so the mysterious Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird was really the party of the illusive Rogue Hero. I tip my hat to you, Sword-sama. No one would have expected a Hakuko of being a pawn of the Melromarc Queen." An Elderly Representative Gemnu, or turtle subspecies of Demihumans, said with a laugh as he stroked his overly long beard. The man was supposable retired, though he was retired in that curious way of not really being retired at all. He just didn't officially have any position, so no one could take his position away from him, or try to blackmail or bribe him in regards to his career.

There were six representatives from Siltvelt, two of them were from the Gemnu clan, two were from the Shusaku clan, while the other two were from lesser clans. It seemed as though the Aotatsu were boycotting the meetings entirely. It was just as well. Whenever they passed by a member of the Aotatsu clan while in Siltvelt, Azu would freeze up a little.

"Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird? Rogue Hero? What flattering nicknames people have been thinking up." Shirou said, not acknowledging the accusations that he was a pawn. "It is true that I have been rather illusive, but that was only out of necessity. Unlike the other three heroes, I recognized the 'adventurers' that the Cult of the Three Heroes attempted to arrange for us for what they were. Spies, each one meant to control the flow of information around us and make us easy to control. It was only with the help of the Queen's agents that I managed to slip away from them and gained the time to make my own judgments about this world, unhampered. She also advised that I visit Siltvelt in order to synchronize with their Hourglass before the wave it. I'm embarrassed to admit that I got sidetracked on the way there and was mere hours too late to get to the hourglass in time. But as luck would have it, I was mere minutes away from the center of the wave when it hit."

"I see. But if you were an agent of the Melromarc Queen all along, then why was it that you needed to take a job from a member of my Clan before you would go and assist the Shield Hero?" One of the Shusaku Clan members, the younger one, asked. Shirou was pretty sure this man was the one called Marcus, though his full name was a jumbled mess that Shirou couldn't bring himself to memorize. And when you consider how used memorize things a magus was, that is quiet the long and tedious name.

While the Shusaku Clan as a whole was supposed to be moderate on the topic of the Summoned heroes, Marcus was one of the extremists who believed that Siltvelt should go to war to rescue their Holy Hero.

"The plan had always been for me to return to Melromarc to assist the Shield Hero. Her Majesty had wanted me to do so as soon as word reached me about the plot against him. However, I convinced her that the Siltvelt Wave should take priority. Even if I was only in the right place by chance, if I hadn't been there, not only would have the entire town been wiped out, but by the time your army finally got into place, hundreds of thousands of monsters would have already spread throughout the surrounding area." Shirou easily lied again, implying that the Queen had placed the Shield Hero as the highest priority, while Shirou himself had placed the higher priority on the Waves. It also allowed him to remind everyone just how quickly a Wave could snowball out of control, without calling them out about not taking it seriously. "The truth is, I merely used David's proposal as an easy way of gaining access to Siltvelt's Hourglass without having to cause a political scene that might reach Melromarc's ears. The fact that the Sword Hero even knows of the existence of the other Hourglasses is supposed to be a secret. It also allowed me to Class Up my companions without having to use the Hourglass in Melromarc, as the Cult of the Three Heroes is monitoring it. I'd rather keep them from ever finding out any information about them."

"Sword-sama. We've heard rumors from those men of Siltvelt about your combat experts, and while they seem to have been embellished a little, tell us, what is your professional opinion on the Shield Hero." A demihuman with a lion-like mane of hair around his throat. He was the foreign relations adviser of Shildfrieden, and another worshiper of the Shield Hero. Though the man was less extreme than some.

"It is currently Siltvelt's time for questions. I would ask that the Shildfrieden diplomates refrain from interjecting until their turn has come." The Speaker said, giving the lion man a look.

"No, it is a good question. Please Sword-sama, what is your opinion on the matter of the Shield Hero?" The Gemnu man said with a smile, waving for Shirou to answer.

"Well, they probably won't embellish. While our levels aren't as high as they might have expected, the Legendary Holy Weapons aren't just for show. As for your question. The Shield Hero is not as experienced as I am with combat, however he seems to have a natural talent for using his shield. He's also an intelligent and hardworking individual, as well as a fast learner. The man has become paranoid and because of it acts as approachable as a rabid dog, but for some reason he still has a sort of charisma about him that I can't really explain. It causes my companions to feel as though they could trust him, regardless his personality quirks. His leveling was slow at first, but now that he has a means of attacking and a well-equipped partner, there shouldn't be any more trouble." Shirou said, thinking over his experience with Naofumi. "If you want to know how he is going to do in the Wave, assuming that the monsters of this next Wave won't be too much tougher than the ones I faced in Siltvelt, then he will be fine. I don't know if there will even be any monster there strong enough to touch him. His battle instincts are likely enough to keep him safe against most monsters. However, I am not so sure about how he would fair against more human opponents. Instinct can act as a trap and create vulnerabilities that a truly skilled fighter can take advantage of. His foot work in particular needs work, though I suppose being able to take an attack, rather than avoiding it, is what it means to be a Shield Hero."

"So your opinion is that his life is not in immediate danger and that he isn't currently hampered?" The Gemnu rep asked.

"That is correct." Shirou said with a nod.

"Good. Good. Now for my next question, could you please explain to me why you are here? From my understanding, you have done your utmost to hide yourself, so why have you revealed yourself to everyone here?" The turtle man asked Shirou, being remarkably blunt.

"I would think that would be obvious. While your political games and power struggles mean little to me, I have an invested interest in making sure a war does not happen, as it would hinder our efforts to properly deal with the Waves." Shirou explained, to the irritation of many at the gathering. "To such an end, Her Majesty has requested that I offer your countries my assistance in combating the Waves. I will agree to do so, on the condition that you give up your grievances until the Waves are dealt with. Otherwise, the best way for me to prevent you from going to war is to ignore your nation's Waves. Without heroes to assist in your defense, you won't have as many troops to spare on pointless wars. Even if the active Star Heroes spread out to defense all of your countries, they can't synchronize with the Hourglasses the way a Legendary Hero can. How many people do you think will die between when the Wave hits and when you can finally get word to them?"

"That is quite the ultimatum." The Turtle man nodded slowly. "But could we not simply go to the other three heroes?"

"The Bow and the Spear Heroes are constantly being fed miss information. If you attacked Melromarc in a way that looks unprovoked to them, they might very well man the lines against you. As for the Shield Hero, while he will be capable of defending himself and might even be able to handle a Wave Boss, if the circumstances are right, he lacks the area-of-effect abilities needed for dealing with the kinds of numbers that come during a Wave. That's if he even agrees to help you at all. He has no reason to trust any of you." Shirou reasoned, putting the cards on the table. "In the end, its either accept my proposal or deal with the fallout yourself. I have already proven that I can deal with a Wave quickly and effectively. The choice is yours. If you can call it a choice."

There were several unhappy faces from the surrounding politicians as Shirou proceeded to strong arm them, though the old turtle didn't seem terribly perturbed. "Tell me, Hero-sama, are you planning on keeping your involvement in fighting the Waves secret?"

"That is correct." Shirou said with a short nod.

"Well then, since you have already fought off one Wave and synchronized with our country's Hourglass, it would be wrong for us to pursue this matter any further at present. Even if those who were directly involved in broking international treaty will need to face proper justice eventually, we can expect Melromarc to deal with that matter themselves. I expect the Queen of Melromarc will keep us informed on all progress made, within reason of course." The old turtle said, earning some looks from his peers and a nod of assurance from the Queen, though none of them said anything. "The Representatives of Siltvelt pass the Sword Hero's questioning to the Merchant Princes of Zeltbull."

"Recognized. Merchant Princes, you have fifteen minutes for questioning." The Speaker announced with a nod towards a set of three men who were dressed like Italian mafiosos.

"Oh, I don't think we will need the whole fifteen minutes." A man who could only be described as a literal mustache twirling villain said in a high-pitched chuckle of a voice. "When evaluating a product, there are only three things that matter. Ease of use, effectiveness and price. He has already declared himself to be willing and explained how easy it is to use him. All you have to do is let him see your Hourglass and he takes care of the rest. As for effectiveness, he's already dealt with one Wave at Siltvelt. So the only remaining determinant is price. So Mercenary Saint-sama, how much will your services cost us?"

Shirou frowned. "You will agree to not pursue reconciliation from Melromarc until after the Waves of Calamity are over. That is the only price I demand. Beyond that, pay me whatever you feel like."

"Oh, so Saint-sama is willing to work for free than." The man laughed, and his brethren began to giggle as well. "Now that is much cheaper than how we had planned to deal with the Waves. I was actually worried about how much it would cost us to send all those gladiator slaves to fight it off for us."

Shirou froze at the man's words.

'Gladiator slaves?'

* * *

"For a man who claims to hate politics, he sure knows how to deal with politicians." Mirellia said with a sigh as she sat down in her chair. The foreign threat had been temporarily mitigated. Now she just had to retrain all her resources into dealing with the domestic one, preparing for the moment she would take down the entirety of the Cult of the Three Heroes in a single stroke. Everything had turned out better than she had hoped.

Originally, she had been resigned to the fact that she would have to negotiate with Faubley for the distribution of the Star Heroes as well as the support of their nation's army to discourage the other countries from attacking Melromarc. This would have required her to do something that made her sick to her stomach just thinking about, selling Malty's body to their pig of a king and allowing him to rape her to death.

Even after all the unforgivable crimes that Mirellia knew that Malty had committed, and the even longer list of crimes she had suspected the girl of committing, she didn't want that fate for her daughter. Even if Malty was far beyond redemption, death was preferable to being given to that… thing.

Now with nearly every nation pacified, by Emiya strong arming them into submission, such an extreme measure would be unnecessary. Mirellia had seen the disappointment on the Faubley man's face when he realized he wasn't going to be able to deliver his king's long-awaited plaything to him.

"Your Majesty, we may have a problem." One of the Queen's Shadows said as he entered the room through the secret passageway. "After the visit to Zeltbull's Hourglass, the Sword Hero disappeared."

"Is that so. I suppose it was bound to happen." Mirellia said with a sigh. "Now that the threat of war is over, he and his companions are probable off to further their training or visit the other nations within the agreed upon time limit." The Queen had more or less seen this coming. It was unfortunate that he didn't leave a way of remaining in contact, but he isn't exactly hard to find if you know what to look for.

"Your Majesty, he hasn't left the city. He left both the Holy Bird and the Dragon's Daughter with Princess Melty. He's somewhere in the city with the Two-Tailed Kitsune, we just don't know where or why he decided to hide himself from us." The Shadow reported.

"What? But why would he… Oh no." Mirellia thought as realization struck her. How did she not realize it sooner? She should have tried to prevent Emiya from ever visiting Zeltbull's capital at all costs!

Zeltbull was a nation with a powerful black market, one which nearly ran the country, as well as one that dealt heavily in slavery. In fact, nearly sixty percent of the capital's population was enslaved, more than half of them through what other countries would consider illegal channels. Emiya had already been reported to having freed nearly every slave he came across. He had even made the offer to the Shield Hero's slave, though the child for some reason had turned him down.

When a country that thrives on black market slavery meets a Saint Hero who has displayed a distaste for slavery in general… Emiya might soon tear the entire country to pieces, along with any chance of peace between nations.

"We need to find him at once!" Mirellia shouted at the Shadow, who didn't move.

"Your Majesty, even if we by some miracle did find him… how do you suggest we stop him?" The Shadow asked, carefully choosing his words.

The Queen's mouth opened, but no words came out. True enough, they wouldn't be able to do anything without causing a scene that would undermine their image of being somewhat in control of the Rogue Hero.

"Do everything you can to distract Zeltbull's assassins. Maybe we can somehow get whatever is about to happen to go unnoticed." The Queen ordered, and this time the Shadow immediately moved to obey.

Rogue Hero. The young man sure did live up to the name.

* * *

While being alone with Shirou was awkward for Rita after the events of the previous night, it was at least a break from dealing with Firo.

The young bird had immediately sensed that something had changed in Rita and had been pestering her none stop to try to find out what had happened. Nothing she said could deter the girl, as she seemed to immediately see through any lie told to her. Rita didn't have the heart to tell her that someday, Shirou would leave them. Wasn't like Shirou's response was any better. He just didn't say anything until Firo started to get depressed as well.

Rita kempt trying to tell herself that her Sensei's leaving was an event for the distant future. The Hero of the Sword can't leave, so long as the Waves of Calamity continued. The Waves would likely last another year at the very least, possibly as many as three years. But even with a long time ahead of them, the knowledge that the day would come weighed heavy on Rita's heart, along with the guilt of having said something so cruel to her Sensei.

Something seemed to have broken inside of Shirou after their talk the night before. He had put on a face when dealing with the World Leaders, but after it was over all the life seemed to drain back out of him.

"So, they really do have them." Shirou said, his voice the same miserable tone it had been since she had basically forced him to recount the Holy Grail War. Rita looked up to see one of the famous Colosseums that Zeltbull was famous for. The loud roar of a crowd echoing from within.

Sensei hadn't told her where they were going. While they were at the Hourglass, he suddenly teleported them both away and then told Rita to disguise herself completely, avoiding the line of spies the various nations had following them. At least, Rita assumed the spies were there. Unlike her Sensei, she couldn't pick them out of the crowd.

Rita had used the Shadow's disguise belt to hide her demihuman features, as well as shorten her hair and turn it green. She also changed her clothes from a dress to a more tomboy appearance that wouldn't draw attention. She could have also changed her visible height too, but that took more focus to maintain.

Shirou had also changed, using his 'reinforcement' magic on his own hair, he increased the effectiveness of the pigment until the red and white both turned to shades of black and grey. He had changed his clothes from the iconic red and black light armor to a leather armor top and worn-down pants, copied from a passing mercenary, with a bandanna around his head. Jian, once again, hid herself away as a simple belt, with an unseen and flexible blade within the leather. His new attire seemed to more closely match his depressing mood.

"I need to see this for myself." Shirou said, heading into the intimidating building. Rita paused for a second before heading in after him.

What had happened to her Sensei?

* * *

"It's worse than I suspected." Shirou said as he watched the fighting, if it could be called that.

"This…" Rita's mumbling was drowned out by the shouts and cheers of the people around her as two men fought to the death for their amusement. The girl had seen death before, she had even seen Shirou kill a group of slavers. But this. This was different.

The girl turned pale as a ghost and nearly lost his disguise when one of the two men stabbed the other in an artery, sending out a torrent of blood.

"First time at the arenas, little lady?" A man smelling of alcohol asked Rita, seeing her reaction. "Ah, you picked the wrong time of day to get your feet wet. The mercenary battles be the deathless ones, usually. But whenever two slaves are set up in the pit, somebody's going to die."

"Slaves?" Rita said, shocked.

"Aye, lots of gladiators be slaves. They are cheap, easy to get to fight, and easy to replace. While you might be a bit squeamish, blood brings in the crowds. This colosseum, why it has a round twenty thousand deaths a year, not including the captured monsters." The man said, lifting a glass to his mouth.

Rita's eyes widened and Shirou could almost see the girl's mind spinning. Twenty thousand people died in this place every year? How could that be possible? That was like sacrificing an entire large town every year, and this was only one colosseum. Zeltbull had three such places.

'And you have just promised to defend such a place.' Archer's voice played in the back of Shirou's mind. 'Don't act as though this is a surprise. You know better than anyone human nature, how they hunger for the thrill of violence. Honestly, you should just let the Wave consume this country. Why should you bother to protect such a place?'

Shirou couldn't even argue. This country was filled with scum. It was a like disease. The world would be better off without it.

Then again, the rest of the world was little better. In Melromarc, the knights had ignored their own people during a Wave. In Siltvelt, they had ordered the slaves to die for them, without caring at all. Hatred, bigotry, corruption, it festered within this world. And Shirou was expected to save it?

Why? Why should he even bother? If all that is required for the Waves of Calamity to come to an end is for enough people to die, then the fastest way for him to get back to the ones he loved would be to just sit back and watch as the world burned around him. For them all to dead for their own stupidity. There was no reason for why he should fight.

This world was simply not worth fighting for.

"Girly, you might want to leave now." The drunkard said as a fat man in a black suit came out in front of the crowd. "If you can't stomach death, then you don't want to be here for this."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have been enjoying yourselves so far because it is time for tonight's main attractions, yes. Before we switch over to our monster fights, we have one more special event, the Griffin Run!" The man shouted. A stone trap door opened in the center of the room and two massive griffins slowly rose up on a platform from below. The creatures gave ear splitting screams as they struggled with chains around their necks that held them to a large pedestal in the center of the platform. The doors along the outside of the walls opened and what looked to be a hundred gladiators entered the arena, all of them without weapons or armor. Without the layers of clothing, the slave seals were easy to spot. "For those of you who don't know, the rules are simple, yes. Once these two griffins are realized our gladiators will have to survive for five whole minutes without weapons or armor. You, the audience my bet on who will live and who will die, yes indeed."

"What!?" Rita shouted, not that anyone even five feet away.

"Yep. More than half of those people down there are probably going to die today, and some more are going to lose their limbs and die later. Shame, some familiar faces among them." The man said with a sad shake of his head. "I was once a gladiator too. They give you the chance to win your freedom. Win enough fight, get a little money for each one and you might be able to buy your way out. Motivates the slaves and postpones their suicides. Though only one in every ten thousand live that long."

Shirou could hear it in the man's voice, the self-loathing. How many had this man killed in order to gain his own freedom? The fact that he would return and watch other suffering the same fate was a sure sign of masochism.

"There's a child down there!" Rita shouted. Shirou followed her gaze and saw a small boy, only around twelve-year-old with white hair with black strips in it. It was his first time seeing a real one, but he could tell that the boy was a Hakuko.

"Damn, not him too. That would be Fohl. He's a bit of a crowd favorite. He's been fighting for the last year now." The man said with a sympathetic face. "While the other gladiators are trying to win their freedom, Fohl's deal is a bit different. So long as he keeps winning his fights, the colosseum owners keep getting him medicine for his terminally ill little sister."

Shirou stiffened at the man's words.

"How do you know that?" He asked the drunkard.

"Because they tell everyone. Stories like that draw in the crowd." The man replied in disgust.

Shirou stared at the boy, his enhanced eyes letting him see every single line of determination on the boy's face. He didn't care for his own life. He just wished to save his sister. Just like Shirou had wished to save Illya.

But why should Shirou care. It had nothing to do with…

NO! That wasn't right! None of this was right! Just because it didn't have anything to do with him doesn't mean that he shouldn't help! These people didn't deserve to die! He had the power to help! He WOULD HELP!

He had been running. Ever since he had come to the world he had been running from the thoughts of the people back home, of the family he was letting down. He had tried to focus entirely on the world he was in, on the children he had taken under his wing. Then Rita made him realize that when it was all over, he would have to make a choice, and rather than facing that choice, he had ran away again. Tried to deny that the world around him even existed.

This was not him. Emiya Shirou was many things, but an apathetic coward was not one of them. He was a man who was stubborn as a mule, made his decisions and stuck to them even as reality itself tried to stop him. If the world would not let him have what he wanted, he wouldn't run away. He would bash his thick head into that wall as many times as he needed to and see which one broke first.

"As always, volunteers from the audience can join if they wish, yes! However, these two monsters are no ordinary griffins! A life in the colosseum and a diet of unfortunate gladiators has seen them grow! They are each level 93 super-monsters! YES IN~DEED!" The showman said throwing up his arms. "So, do we have any volunteers!"

""I volunteer!"" Both Shirou and the old drunkard shouted, their voices managing to cut through the crowd.

The two blinked and looked at each other as the volume around them once again increased.

"Young man, if you want to kill yourself, there are cleaner ways of doing it." The former gladiator said.

"I have no intention of dying." Shirou replied, reaching down to his belt and pulling out a large bag of coins, which he then handed to Rita with a small smile. "Rita, I want you to place a bet for me. Bet that no one will die today."

"…Yes Sensei." The girl said with a bit of wonder in her eyes as both Shirou and the drunk moved down towards the arena.


	26. Chapter 26

Shirou eyed the chained-up griffins as he and the drunk headed for the arena's entrance. Based on what he could gather from analyzing their chains, it seemed that monsters also followed the 'rule of 20', that is to say, that an individual's stats on averaged doubled every 20 levels they gained.

So these two had about triple the raw power of the standard griffins he had faced in the mountains. Still nothing compared to that monstrosity the Fucking Alchemist cooked up, but more than a normal person could handle. While Shirou himself had grown since he had fought with the griffins in the mountains, this time he would be fighting unarmed and unarmored. The chains also served to ward against most forms of magic, making attacking them with magic almost useless. To most, this would be a hopeless battle, and they would be left trying to run away rather than fight, praying that the monsters get distracted with another.

Luckily, Shirou isn't a normal person.

"What kind of magic is permitted in these fights?" Shirou asked the man as they got closer to the oddly familiar looking colosseum showman. It seemed to him that the drunk was familiar with the rules and since the man smelled of magic, he either had a plan that involved magic or was actually trying to kill himself.

"Any, though don't bother with anything that targets the monsters themselves. Those binding they got on them resist magic. Even a top-grade fire spell won't do much more than singe their feathers a little." The man told him. "They'd also be pretty old and sensitive to changes in mana, so illusion magic won't fool them for long… not anymore."

"You familiar with this pair?" Shirou asked.

"We've been introduced a couple of times. Still can't tell the two bastards apart though, so I can't tell you which one nearly tore off my head once." The man said rubbing his throat. "Were you really serious about that 'no one dying' thing, or were you just trying to play it cool for the sweet little lady?"

"I've already put my money were my mouth is. Just watch and try not to get yourself killed. I'd hate for you to purposely die just to spite me." Shirou said with a confident smirk.

"You're insane… Alright, if you really can do this, then I'll make sure not to die. I'm not so bad with support and illusion magic, if that helps. Healing too, but if those things hit you when you don't have armor, I don't think anything I got would help." The man said, trying to seem casual.

"What are the highest strength and speed buffs you can give?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow. "Also, you got a name?"

"Second level for strength, third for speed. Call me Zeff." Zeff said holding out a hand for a shake.

"Kiritsugu. I've got the same level for strength, but if the speed buff doesn't exhaust you too much, I'd appreciate it." Shirou said, taking the offered hand. He should be able to handle himself without support, but there was no sense in holding back now when he was already being hobbled. The monsters had around mid C-rank stats, on the Servant scale. About as tough as Firo was back at level 48. Now, at level 55, the big bird would have eaten them for breakfast… literally.

Honestly, ten or so more levels, and the little girl would have been a match for a corruption enhanced Berserker.

"…Yeah, I think I'll just call you Kerry. No offense, but your name be like tar on the tongue." Zeff said, earning a chuckle out of Shirou.

After entering the arena, they were greeted by the Showman. "Ah, our brave volunteers! So nice to see the audience getting involved!" The man said, clapping his hands together. "Now, before we begin, weapons and armor aren't allowed. Sorry sir, but I have to ask you to take that off. Very sorry, very sorry."

Shirou grunted as he took off the leather armor.

"*Whistle* Damn, what the hell do you be doing to get a body looking like that?" Zeff said as he stared Shirou's body. The same darkened skin of Archer's arm was visible in patches across Shirou's entire body from the times when he burned himself by absorbing too much prana than he could handle. There were also several other scars he had received since the end of the Holy Grail War and the transfer of Avalon to Illya.

Shirou knew damn well how shocking his body looked. But he still only gave a sideways smile at Zeff when he responded. "Apparently, I box griffins."

The showman blinked a few times before laughing. "My my, what an interesting competitor! But is he good enough to survive against the griffins!? Let's find out, yes!"

Shirou and Zeff walked over the one of the walls along with the slaves who were trying to stay as far away from the monsters as possible.

"So, got any plan you want to include me on?" Zeff asked as they took up their position.

"Yeah. I thought I would try punching them." Shirou said, cracking his knuckles.

"…Are you serious." Zeff said with disbelief. Shirou only nodded. "We're going to die, aren't we?"

"No, we aren't." Shirou replied.

In the last week traveling between Melromarc and Zeltbull and hunting problem monsters, Shirou's level had grown from 57 all the way up to 63. With the effects of Jian's stat up from the mastered weapon forms, his stats were closer to that of a normal level 80's. Reinforcement magic brought that up to level 86. With the second level of support magic, he would hit as hard as a level 91, and then there with his +70% damage-to-hybrids that he got from mastering and awakening the complete Griffin Series of weapons. To the griffins, he might as well be a level 105.

Still, with only a raw power difference of 12 levels, and him having nothing but his bare hands, would make the fight a bit more complicated. The griffins had higher base stats than his human body, which mitigated his advantage somewhat. His damage output would be enough to knock around, maybe even injure the monsters, but he wasn't confident he would be able to kill them with just that strength and no weapon. And he was going to kill them. He couldn't allow them to live. Not with the threat they posed to the lives of everyone.

Well, he would cross that bridge when he got there. First thing's first. Shirou needed to get the monster's attention. He couldn't have them going after anyone else.

Shirou put his right thumb in his mouth, reinforced his teeth and drew the finger across them. With blood dripping from the small wound, Shirou bent down and wrote a rune in the dirt. It was a poor-quality rune, but it would do its job. "Algiz." He mumbled, activating it.

As the rune started to glow, the griffins, which up to that point had been squawking at all of the gladiators equally, stopped and turned their heads in Shirou's directions. Then they went ballistic, screaming and tugging at their chains in order to try to get at the man.

"Aye, Kerry-kun, what did you just do?" Zeff asked with a worried look.

"I just used a rune to mark this as my magical territory." Shirou replied with a small shrug, letting Jian quickly close the cut on his finger.

"Oh… and what kind of buffs does that give you?" Zeff asked.

"None at all. It just pisses them off." Shirou replied, giving a devil-may-cry grin.

"…You really are insane." Zeff said, his eyes widening as he took a few steps away from Shirou. The slaves did the same thing, some even turning and running away from the symbol placed in the dirt, not wanting to be near anything that would draw the monster's attention.

"The effect of the rune is about six meters, they are going to try to kill anything inside of it, so I suggest taking a few more steps back." Shirou suggested, rolling his arms as he started his preparations for the actual fight, opening up his Unlimited Blade Works and downloading all the information on hand-to-hand combat he could get from the various gauntlets, claws, brass knuckles and other fist-based weapons he had in reserves. "I command the origin of swords. I have broken a truth and created a hope. Flow strength of steel and make this body a weapon. Zwiet Strength."

The support magic increased Shirou's strength stat by 20%, though it didn't change the effects of the Reinforcement magecraft. Zeff's third level of speed boost granted a 30% increase to Shirou's speed. A fair boost, worth as much as a few levels, and Shirou would take any edge he could get.

"Alright everyone, the betting is now closed! Let us see who will live and who will die, yes!?" The Showman said, twirling a cane. "Three, two, one. BEGIN! YES!"

A bolt was released from the pillar the griffins were chained too and the monsters came barreling at Shirou at a speed that would be difficult to follow for the average person.

Shirou prepared himself to receive the attack. Rather than returning to the normal style of hunting, surrounding their prey and waiting for tension to grant an opening, the two foolish creatures just ran straight for Shirou. Perhaps the daily 'hunts' against insultingly weak targets had rendered them stupid. Either way, Shirou wasn't going to complain. They would realize their mistake soon.

With them each approaching from the same side and almost the same angle, it was only natural that one had to muscle the other out of the way in order to get to Shirou first. That one pounced at Shirou with claws raised and wings outstretched like the descending bird of prey that it was. Shirou easily dodged the oncoming talons and beak, getting right underneath the creature's body.

Planting his feet, he threw a right hook straight into the monster's chest, right underneath the sternum. A sickening gasp escaped the creature's bird mouth as its entire body was launched straight upwards, a whole ten feet into the air. Its limbs flailing around as it tried to figure out what had just happened.

The griffin behind it titled its head upwards, watching its companion soring vertically up into the air. Because of this, Shirou had a good show, lunging forward and preforming a clothesline on the monster's neck, knocking it upwards onto its hind legs.

Twisting around the monster, Shirou grabbed onto the chain that still dangled from its metal collar, using it as leverage in order to plant his foot straight into the monster's back, sending it right back down to the ground with a heavy thud.

As the hybrids got to their feet, they saw Shirou standing right between them, hands behind his back and a smile on his face. In their rage, they lunged at him again, not realizing that what they were attacking was just empty air and that the man had no shadow. The image flickered out of existence the moment they hit it, but that was when the real thing attacked.

Shirou grabbed onto both monster's chains, pulling them together and preforming a dual kick to each of their heads, sending them back to the ground. "Alteration." He said, his voice calm as the two end links of the chains melted into one and other, creating a single solid chain that went from one monster's collar to the other. "Maybe know you will remember to attack as a group." Shirou said with a chuckle, as he quickly backwards away from the two confused beasts.

By the time they turned towards him, he was standing on the solid steel pedestal from which they were released, letting off a steady amount of MP to act as a lure. The two didn't need much motivation. They came charging in, same as before and when Shirou jumped backwards off of the pole they each went around a different side.

What stupid creatures.

Shirou stood right out of range of the chain and got ready to finish it.

"I am the Bone of my Sword." He mumbled to himself, unheard underneath the cheers of the crowd.

Shirou pulled up the blueprint for the Griffin Sword IV, using his connection with Jian. He traced it within his Unlimited Blade Works before unraveling it and infusing it into his left arm. With its level 12 enhancement buffs, it granted Shirou an extra +180% damage-to-hybrids, as well as more raw attack power than his ordinary barehands. The fist of Archer's arm turned black as the steel was woven into its existence.

When the monsters reach the ends of their ropes, their momentum throw them slamming into each other, and at the moment that their heads lined up, Shirou stuck with his wrought iron fist.

The crowd went silent as Shirou's left hook blew off both monsters' heads at once.

* * *

"Sensei, that was amazing!" Rita said, unable to hide her excitement. She was carrying the massive crate that sported their winnings. The fifty gold they had managed to save up over their jobs the last week had changed into roughly one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins. Enough gold coins to fill an eight-person jacuzzi.

Every thief and bandit in the area staring dreamily at the giant box, though none of them dared to approach a man who could take off a super griffin's head with a punch.

"Thanks." Shirou said awkwardly. "Sorry about earlier. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I won't leave you and the others alone. I'll figure something out."

Rita blinked before folding inwards. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you share your past or say those things to you. Please forgive me." She said bowing to Shirou.

Shirou just gave a small smile and patted the girl's head, feeling her ears underneath his disguise. "There's nothing for you to apologize for. No matter how fast you've grown, I'm still the adult here, and I didn't act like it."

"No, you certainly didn't." A dangerous looking woman with dark red hair and an eyepatch said as she approached them with a glare.

"So you found us already, Yami. That's a nice look on you, degojaru." Shirou said with a cheerful smile that made the woman glare even harder.

"You will be coming back with me and explaining your actions, de…" She said, biting down on her 'degojaru'. She nearly dropped character in front of all of these people. She really must have been mad.

"Fine, I need to grab Firo for what I have planned anyways." Shirou said with a shrug.

"Firo?" Rita asked, not sure what Shirou was talking about.

"Yes, I'll need her to control all the Filolials." Shirou said, leaving the other two confused.

The Shadow whimpered to herself as she realized that she couldn't stop him from doing whatever he wanted anyways.

Why did he have to be such a rogue?

* * *

Fohl sat in his and his sister's shared cell underneath the colosseum, his legs pulled in as he tried to stop himself from shivering. The air down there was always too cold, but he had given his bedding and blanket to Alta, so that she could be kept as warm as possible. Fohl would make do with just straw.

All around them were the sounds of the sick and the dying. The slaves that were judged to be no longer worth the resources to be provided for, who were either sick or injured. If they didn't get better by themselves, they would simply be tossed into the underground sewer and washed away with the rest of the city's crap. The only reason Alta was fed and given medicine was because Fohl was willing to fight for her survival and because he was a member of the almost legendary Hakuko race. People would come to see him fight; the young survive of the fallen Great Clan.

He found them disgusting, but without their willingness to pay to see him, his sister would have been left to die a long time ago, and without her, he would have lost the only reason he had to keep on living.

Fohl had lost his family, his clan, his honor, his innocents, everything. Alta was the only thing he had left. She was the world to him. Nothing else mattered, so long as she could live. His only wish was that he could provide better for her.

"Onii-sama?" Atla said as she started to wake up from her short rest. "I'm sorry, *cough* I didn't realize you were back."

"Don't apologize, if anything, I should be sorry for waking you up." Fohl said with a gentle smile, though that was more for himself than for Atla. Atla had never seen her brother smile before. She had never seen anything at all.

Because of a hereditary disease that she inherited from their mother, Atla was completely blind. Though that was the last of her problems. Atla had never had any trouble 'seeing' the world around her, as she had the ability to sense the auras of everything around her, what Fohl had always seen as proof that the Gods cherished Atla as much as he did, as they choose to bless her and give her way of seeing without her eyes.

He willfully ignored the fact that no benevolent god would have made a child suffer the way Atla did.

Atla was in pain. She had always been in pain. Her illness didn't have a name, but it attacked her entire body. Her lungs, he eyes, her stomach, nose and throat. Nearly every inch of her skin was covered in blistering burn-like marks from the ever spreading sickness, requiring her to be wrapped in bandages from head to toe.

'They should be changing her bandages soon. Where was that damned Slave Trader?' Fohl grumbled inside his own head.

Atla sniffed the air, with short and shallow breaths. "There's no blood today. I'm glad." She said softly.

Fohl winced and cursed his families overly sensitive noses. Atla always was able to know when he had taken an injury in his fights because of it… and when he had been made to kill others. That was the price he paid for his sister, he would kill and kill and kill, and so long as he kept killing, she would be allowed to live. And Atla knew. She was smart enough to know that she was being used as a hostage.

How many had Fohl killed? He wasn't quite sure himself. He had been in the Colosseum for a few months, maybe as much as a year now, and fought almost every day. He had grown to level 31 killing his fellow man, with a few monsters thrown in. At first, the feel of the blood underneath his nails had been so nauseating he had tried to bite his own fingers off, but over time, he just stopped thinking about it.

This was his life. The thing he had to do in order to protect the only thing that mattered to him. He would not let himself regret protecting her.

"Onii-sama… there was a strong aura coming from above today… while you were away." Atla told Fohl.

"Is that so." Fohl said. It must have been the man with the grey and black hair. Fohl had been as shocked as everyone else when he went and killed two level 93 griffins with his barehands, a feat that was thought to be impossible. It was slightly humbling for Fohl, who had always considered himself to be stronger than other people because of his bloodline. 'If I had that kind of power, I would be able to protect my sister forever.'

"That aura has come back." Atla said, surprising her older brother. "It's coming this way."

* * *

It was extremely tempting to just kill the man.

It turned out that the Showman in the Colosseum was also the Colosseum owner, and Shirou couldn't remember the last time he had been so repulsed by an individual before. Granted, there were a lot of names in the Clocktower of people who repulsed him, but at least they had the etiquette required to not rub it in Shirou's face how much of scum they were.

The fat, balding man in the black suit was laughing about the conditions around him and the complete disregard for human life. His annoying voice made Shirou want to rip out the man's lungs and strangle him with them.

The swordsman had nearly snapped when the man had offered to sell him an seven-year-old girl as a sex slave, and when he asked how much Shirou wanted to for Firo… How can a man still stand there and laugh while having such an intense killing intent directed at him?

No, he wasn't just laughing and ignoring it… he was turned on… The fuck was wrong with him?

Shirou knew he couldn't kill the man. Not yet, anyways. But it was so tempting. Even Saint George would have probably made an acceptation to his rule about forgiving sinners for this man.

Rita grabbed onto Shirou's arm as they passed the cages full of sick and dying. He knew what she was thinking, and placed his hand on her head, whispering, "we will help them," into the girl's ear. Firo was also very vocal about how much she did not like the place, and she carried the massive backpack Shirou had given her that was three times the size of her body. She was very happy about the backpack.

It made Shirou glad he hadn't brought Azu along after all. He wasn't sure what might trigger a negative reaction out of the emotionally scarred little girl in a grown woman's body and cause her to remember what happened to her and her mother.

This place was just another vision of hell, and this fat bastard was the devil.

"Here we are, yes! These are the siblings that you were asking to see!" The Slaver Dealer said, still acting like a Showman at a cercus. As if this was a wonderous sight to behold, rather than two small children, a twelve-year-old boy and his sickly little sister stuck in a dark and cold cage with hardly anything to keep them warm.

The boy, Fohl, was staring at Shirou with confused eyes and sniffed the air once or twice. Did the boy recognize him? He had returned to his Mercenary persona after leaving the Colosseum, and they hadn't necessarily gotten that good of a look at his face. He honestly didn't expect anyone to recognize him if he didn't take his shirt off again.

"I'll need to take a look at the girl." Shirou said, causing the boy's eyes to widen.

"You stay the hell away from her!" Fohl growled, putting himself in front of the door and raising up his arms. The look on his face told Shirou that the boy would really try to attack him if he proceeded.

"Onii-sama, its alright…" The child wrapped in bandages said softly. "He has aura is strong, but it's a kind aura."

Aura? Interesting.

Fohl grudgingly took a few steps back and let Shirou into the cage after the Slave Dealer opened it up. Shirou walked slowly over and kneelt next to the bandaged girl, her brother glaring at him the entire time. "Onii-sama, I can feel your hostility." The girl said in a scolding tone, causing the boy to jump and flush with embarrassment at having been caught. "Please forgive him."

"There is nothing to forgive. I did the same when I was in his shoes. My friends had to restrain me." Shirou said with a lighthearted chuckle.

"You have a kind voice." The girl said, before giving a small cough. "Please, what is your name?"

"My name is Shirou." Shirou told her.

"Shirou…" She said thoughtfully, her pronunciation of his name was flawless. Even though Shirou wasn't exactly the hardest name to say, there had been a definite accent when anyone else had first said it. Shirou hadn't even noticed it until he had heard his name said without. Something to keep in mind in the future. Just because Naofumi wasn't very attentive to what was going on around him, didn't mean the other two wouldn't be. "Shirou, please take good care of my brother."

"Atla!" Fohl shouted in shock, though his sister ignored him.

"That is why you are here, isn't it? To take my brother away." Atla said simply. "I will stay here and act as the hostage, just please cherish my Onii-sama."

"…I think you misunderstand my intentions. I do not plan on leaving you behind." Shirou said kindly. "I plan on helping you both." He lifted his hand to place it on Atla's head, but before he could, Fohl freaked.

"Don't you touch her!" He shouted and lunged at Shirou, punching him square in the face. It had about as much of an affect as a fluffed pillow.

"Now now, no attacking the custom…" The Slave Dealer started to scold the boy, preparing to activate the slave seal, only to be stopped by Shirou's harsh voice.

"Punish the boy, and I will break your arm." Shirou said, sending a small wave of killing intent directed sole at the fat man, who gave a shiver of… delight.

"Keeping a horrible sinner like me in line, as expected of the Mercenary Saint." The Slaver said cheerfully.

"…I really hate that man." Shirou grumbled as he turned his attention to the boy. Fohl flinched backwards and Shirou put a hand on the boy's head. "It's alright. You don't need to be worried, I am just going to help. You can trust me."

"I… ah… Atla…" Fohl blinked in confusion as Shirou's minor hypnosis took effect, calming him down. He backed away, giving Shirou room, but he still scowled when Shirou turned his attention back to the girl.

"You have a very protective older brother." Shirou said as he placed his hand on the girl's forehead and started to use his structural grasp, trying to get a good idea of her current condition. Years of practice on Illya had done wonders for his ability to diagnose the human body.

"Yes, I know." Atla said, seeming a little embarrassed. "Your hand is warm. I can feel your aura passing into me."

"That's my magic. I'm using a spell to check on your condition." Shirou told the girl, before falling quiet as he concentrated. He nearly froze up when he got his results. "To see something like this here." He mumbled before shaking his head. "I think I've found the source of your illness."

"What, really!?" Fohl shouted in shock, before his look turned suspicious. "How do I know you aren't lying."

"The walls of Alta's magic circuits are dangerously thin. She also has what are called 'Pure Eyes'. Both conditions have been connected to long histories of incest in magically talented families. However, Pure Eyes also require the individual to have inherited a powerful 'Fate' from an ancestor, in order to carry on their work. Likely someone with a strong holy attribute. I suspect that the two of you are descendants of one or more of the Legendary Heroes. Would make sense, since she was born right before the start of the Waves of Calamity. It also explains how you could be a child of mixed blood and not show any of the obvious signs of genetic incompatibility." Shirou said simply.

Fohl's breath got caught in his throat. No one, not even the Slave Dealer, had been told that his mother was a human. He had kept it secret from them all, yet this man knew.

"Magic circuits are like blood vessels that carry magical energy through your body, and just like with blood vessels, if the walls are too thin, then they tend to leek. For your blood vessels, this would cause internal bleeding and make you bruise easily. But magical energy in high quantities is very destructive. As the energy leeks out, it burns the tissue around it, causing damage to organs and causing the skin to burn and blister like this." Shirou continued to explain. "You're in luck. I am probably one of the few people in the world who knows the magic needed to treat this condition."

"And why do you know it?" Fohl asked, still suspicious.

"…Because my own sister had a very similar illness." Shirou said in a way that stopped Fohl from pressing further. Then Shirou turned to the Slave Dealer. "I'll be buying them, along with all of your other slaves."

The Slave Dealer stopped bouncing around and his eyes widened. "Ah, Mercenary-sama, that would be rather…"

"I will also take all the Filolials you have and enough wagons to transport all of the slaves. I'll give you fifty thousand gold coins for all of it." Shirou said, gesturing to Firo who put the pack down and pulled open the lid to reveal the massive amount of money. The Slave Dealer stopped breathing. "There will be another five thousand in it for you if you can manage to get everything together before sundown."

"Y…Yes, Saint-sama!" The man shouted before running off, barking out orders to his men to get the wagons that Shirou had demanded.

"Firo, go and speak with the Filolials, tell me if any of them need treatment. Rita, keep an eye on the Slave Dealer." Shirou told the two girls who both rushed off to do as he instructed. He then turned back to Atla. "I'm going to need to stabilize our condition before we treat the underline cause."

Her body was already damaged, and with her magic circuits open, he wouldn't be able to preform magic directly on her through normal means without her body rejecting it. He'd has to transport it though fluids.

Fohl nearly jumped into action when Shirou drew out Jian, but only became confused when rather than cutting his sister, Shirou cut into his own hand. "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades." Shirou began to chant.

Opening up his magic circuits, he started up his Unlimited Blade Works, preparing for the heavy task that was ahead of him. This was not going to be easy. Nearly all of Alta's body had been damaged from the prana poisons. While Shirou had a few holy blades that could heal, they only healed the area's that they were in contact with. Plus, Fohl wouldn't exactly sit still if Shirou started to stab his sister with magical healing swords… Jian wouldn't have allowed it either. There was really only one option.

Avalon.

As the scabbard took form inside of his Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou couldn't help but feel disappointed. It was a very poor imitation, degraded to the point where it was only a tenth of the original's power. There was so much about Avalon that he simply could not fake. It was difficult to recreate something that contained an entire world. The attempted would have likely killed the old Shirou, even with the help of Archer's arm. But this world's 'leveling' had given him ten times as much Od as he had before. Making this flawed attempt possible.

Still, Avalon was also much weaker without Saber's magical energy. While it still had some effect, enough to stop Shirou from killing himself using his nerve endings as pseudo magic circuits, that wouldn't be enough to more than slow down Atla's prana poisoning. So, he would have to provide it when Saber's prana as well.

"Sacrificed everything, Gained everything in return. Withstood pain to create weapons, protecting one's world. I have no regrets. This is the path I've chosen." Shirou said, pushing himself even further. Within his Unlimited Blade Works, a golden sword, a promise of victory began to form, glowing with power, her power. The weapon slid into its scabbard and the two glowed together.

Then, Shirou drew the pair out of his inner world, but rather than manifesting them, he stored their concept within the blood in his hand. The blood began to glow with golden light and filled the small cage.

"This aura…" Atla said as the sense of the miracle that Shirou held in the palm of his hand overwhelmed her.

"Drink this." Shirou said as he ever so gently lifted the small girl up and held his hand to her lips. Atla didn't ask questions, she just drank in Shirou's blood.

Almost immediately, patches of the girl's damaged skin began to glow from underneath the girl's bandages. Fohl gasped in amazement as the glow moved from one place to another, leaving behind flawless skin wherever it went. "Onii-sama, I feel so light."

"You were very hurt, so this might take a little while. But once it is done, you should have a clean bill of health." Shirou said as he got up, only to stumble a bit.

"Your aura, it's gotten weaker." Atla said with concern, her voice already stronger than before.

"You don't need to worry, I'm just tired out. I'll recover in a few hours, a day at the most." Shirou assured her as he made for the door to the cage. "I need to see to the other injured as well. Though I will be sure to use potions this time."

"…Shirou." Atla said, her head tilting to 'watch' him go. She couldn't explain it, but she could feel it. She had been born to meet this man. Her 'Fate' was connected to his.

* * *

 **Shirou doesn't need to have Archer's Arm sealed anymore because he has adjusted to it.**

 **The Seals on Archer's arm were always a temporary thing, and Shirou has had it for over five years.**

* * *

 **Someone pointed out to me that this story has reached the top 10 most follows in the Fate/Stay Night category of crossovers. So I looked and they were right, surprisingly. Then I looked at a few of the ones below me and saw 'Man off the Moon'.**

 **This is an outrage!**

 **How in the world does this crappy story get more favorites and follows than 'Man off the Moon'!?**

 **Not only that, but in the Mass Effect category, 'Man off the Moon' is losing to a 'Humor' Harry Potter crossover story. No! That cannot stand! There does not exist a galaxy where Harry Fucking Potter is more interesting that the Nameless Archer.**

 **All of you, go favorite and follow that story! I don't care if you read it or not! It just deserves better! It's a bit lore heavy and slow moving at first, but it is still one of the best stories on site.**


	27. Chapter 27

Shirou watched from a distance as everyone gathered around Atla as the girl took her first steps. All of them staring in wonder at the miracle before them. Fohl had actually cried when the girl's bandages had been taken away to reveal unblemished skin.

It was a complex feeling that Shirou had, watching the girl's sudden recovery of health. If only he could have done this for his own sister. If only he could have been the one holding her arm as she got out of bed on her own power for the first time in months.

Shirou's heart felt heavy, but even so, he kept things in check. He would not lower his guard and allow the Sword of Sloth to overwhelm him so easily.

After he had bought and had all the slaves registered to him, Shirou quickly left the city behind, using the large number of Filolials. Though the birds were registered to Shirou, in order to gain the benefits of the Filolial series, he gave Firo full control over them. They wouldn't be as attached to him as Firo was, as he was not their father, however they still recognized their crowned princess and would do anything that Firo said, without complaint… save for asking when they would get dinner.

They settled down with the group of 11,298 former slaves and 548 Filolials roughly two hours ride away and Shirou had pulled out enough food to feed everyone. Taking a small chunk out of his food stores. About 0.05% of his total stock. Still was only around twice as much as that single meal he had provided for Firo and Fitoria.

The people around the camp seemed to be under the impression that Shirou really was a Saint with special holy powers. It took a few moments to realize that with Jian at his side, he technically was. Still it felt wrong to be seen as such.

"The Queen has contacted a few mayors and lords of a trustworthy type to help to take in the freed slaves, degojaru. In times like this, there is no shortage of people who wouldn't mind a few former gladiators in their towns, degojaru. Especially those Demihuman settlements who have seen more Slave Hunter raids in the Queen's absence, degojaru." Yami told Shirou as she hide nearby, disguised as one of the slaves, a small girl, only around twelve years old with black hair and cat ears.

"Tell the Queen I said thank you, and Melty that I am sorry for cutting her playdate with Firo short. We will visit sometime after the Wave in Melromarc is over." Shirou told the Shadow.

"…What were you trying to accomplish with all of this, degojaru?" Yami asked.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked the Shadow.

"You are not stupid, degojaru. You should know very well that even if you bought these slaves' freedom, that the Slave Dealer will simply make more using the money he got from you, degojaru." Yami said.

"Yes. I know." Shirou admitted with a nod.

"Then why, degojaru?" Yami asked again.

"To get all of the slaves out of the way, and to scout out the target." Shirou said calmly. Yami's eyes widened as Shirou lifted a hand and placed it on Jian's pummel. "Transport Sword."

In a flash, Shirou was gone.

"…Your majesty, this hero is impossible, degojaru."

* * *

Paul sat behind his deck, humming to himself. Today had been the worst financial day the Colosseum had ever seen with a one hundred thousand gold deficit at the end of the day.

Even to his big-time black-market family, one hundred thousand gold wasn't a small amount of coin. It was enough money to build an entire Colosseum from the ground up. That nameless gladiator really pulled a fast one on them, doing something thought to be impossible and making mint off of them doing it.

If Paul could find the man, he would offer the man his daughter's hand.

They had made some of the money back by selling off the entire stock of slaves and Filolials to that Saint Mercenary, but they were still deep in the reds. It was strange how the man was willing to pay above full price for damaged goods, but he wasn't about to complain. He would need to find way to get his hands on some more griffins, after all. Those didn't come cheap.

Well, it wasn't the end of the world. They still have one million gold coins sitting in their private vault down underneath the colosseum.

"BOSS!" Charlie, one of the patrolling guards shouted at the top of his lungs and he pushed his way into the office. "Boss… we… we got a problem." He said, gasping for air, his face both pale as a ghost and going a little blue. "The vault… it's gone."

Paul's entire body went numb. "…Gone. What do you mean gone?"

"I mean gone! Disappeared! Ripped clean out of the wall!" Charlie shouted in panic.

"How, how is that even possible?" Paul said, shaking his head slowly, wondering if Charlie was just pulling a prank on him. That vault was the size of a large room, how could it just disappear?

"Not only that, the storerooms, the armory, the souvenir shop, all of it has been stripped clean! All of our monsters and the slave cages are gone too! They even took the hay!" Charlie said, tears forming in his eyes. "There's nothing left boss. Nothing."

"D…don't just stand there! Raise the alarm, yes!" Paul shouted at Charlie as he got out of his chair. The man nodded and left the room and Paul was only moments behind him. He turned after leaving the office and jumped back in shock when he found Charlie unconscious on the ground. "Wh… Charlie, get up you idiot! Get…!"

He was about to go to shake the man when someone grabbed in from behind in a strangle hold.

Paul struggled against those… big… stronger arms, as his world began to spin around him. His assailant was handling him so roughly that Paul's whole body was going hard. He couldn't hold on much longer. He was going to… He was going to…

* * *

Paul slowly regained consciousness to find himself outside, on the rooftop across from his Colosseum. He had been stripped naked, tied up with what seemed to be the entirety of his security team, and his own soiled underwear had been pulled over his head like a mask.

But even with the underwear mask on, he could still see the flames. His Colosseum. His beautiful Colosseum. It was on fire.

* * *

The Queen read over the report of what had transpired. Not knowing whether she should be horrified or impressed. She felt like laughing at the sheer absurdity of her good fortune, so long as no one realized it had been Emiya that had done it.

When Emiya had bought those slaves, under the international pretense of using them as a plausible army, she had thought him naïve, believing that saving these few people would mean that the situation had changed. She had known the way the blackmarket operated. They bought kidnapped individuals from bandits and slave hunters for mere coppers and placed slave seals on them. They once all the paperwork had been faked, they would be sent off to another country to be sold at the normal market price. By buying slaves from them, all that Emiya would have done was arm them with more money to pay more bandits and slave hunters.

Then, after having left the city and with all eyes of the world government on him to see him leaving and traveling for hours to get away from the city, he had then somehow returned. He had single handedly taken down one of the most powerful black-market families in the city, and stole everything they owned, even the things that were bolted down. Then, to put the icing on the cake, he burned the East Gate Colosseum to the ground. The merchant of death lost an estimated one and a quarter million gold coins worth in that single night. About as much money as was sitting in the national treasuring in Melromarc.

He then paid a bunch of people to help spread false rumors that it was the North Gate Colosseum behind the attack, and that they were trying to get rid of the competition. He even lit another fire in the West Gate Colosseum in order to support the rumor, though the fire was easily dealt with before it endangered any lives and only caused trivial damages.

The Zeltbull assassins were already queuing up and two groups comprised of the world's worst scumbags were posed to murder each other. The Colosseums were expected to be closing down, temporarily, to avoid possible collateral damages.

All of this chaos introduced within the single hour of his reported absence from the camp over a hundred miles away from the city. The man was incredible.

Now, with the black market on the verge of self-destruction, the balance of power in the Merchants Guild was set to start shifting towards the blacksmiths. A group who actually cared about their international relations, because it would be easier to deal with their exports and imports if they didn't need to go through illegal channels. There was even the possibility of regulations on the Zeltbull slave market in the future.

In one night, Emiya might have just crippled the world's illegal slave trade. How much of this was planned out and how much was dumb luck? The Queen couldn't be sure.

At times, Emiya really did act more like a Shadow then a Hero.

* * *

Five more days.

Five more days until the Wave hit Melromarc.

Motoyasu would never admit it to any of the girls, but he was starting to get a little worn out. Myne had told him that there was nothing more important for a hero than being visible for the masses, to be there so that he could bring them hope. Because of this, he had spent a good deal of his time attending gatherings, going to social parties, and roaming the markets during the day. Then after everyone in their right mind was asleep, Motoyasu himself would sneak off to the training grounds so that he could grow a few more levels. He had been drinking rather powerful vitality potions daily in order to keep himself going.

The potion seller gave him funny looks when he had bought them and made an offhand comment about women wearing him out. Motoyasu wondered what the man would think if he knew the real use Motoyasu was putting them to.

He knew it probably wasn't healthy, but he didn't really have much of an option. He couldn't say no to the girls and he didn't want to start falling behind Itsuki and Issei. He had grown to level 49 so far, but he was starting to approach the point where leveling started to get harder and harder. And since Myne and the other girls only joined him during the day and only when hunting safe targets, their levels were falling behind. He couldn't risk taking them with him to help fight against tougher opponents and he couldn't be sure he could kill them on his own.

He had tried recruiting adventurers with a bit more experience and willpower to help him, but the guys always left, most with looks of disgust on their faces. Yeah, he honestly couldn't blame them. Motoyasu was man enough to admit that he and his skirt chasing was probably at fault. He had lost quite a few friends in his previous life to the same thing. But the rate at which his new teammates left shortly after joining was jarring, as he had gone through seven adventurers in just three weeks. Even some of the girls would disappear on him with only a letter left on the table.

One or two people leaving was understandable, but seven? Wasn't he supposed to be one of the Heroes meant to save the world? You would think they would be willing to put up with a little bit more of his nonsense before leaving.

Will, there wasn't anything he could do about it but keep trying. He just hoped this bad luck didn't last. Things had been going alright so far in terms of leveling up and gathering skills and weapons, but Motoyasu knew that he was about to hit a wall if he couldn't figure out a way of fighting stronger enemies without endangering his lovelies.

So when he reached the village and heard that the hoard of Whiskered Dragon Spawn had already been taken care of, he couldn't help but groan… on the inside anyways.

"What do you mean they have already been killed!? Are you telling us that you called the Hero of the Spear and wasted everyone's time for no good reason!?" Myne shouted at the poor mayor, who was quivering in fear.

"Hey calm down Myne, so the monsters were already beaten, that's no reason for you to much such a face." Motoyasu said, placing a hand on Myne's cheek in order to calm her down. She had a bit of a temper, but that was just part of what made her beautiful.

"But Motoyasu-sama, wasn't it important for you to get that EXP?" Myne said, giving him a cute pout.

"Maybe, but there's no use crying over split milk." Motoyasu said with a chill shrug, even if on the inside he was kissing two easy levels goodbye. He then turned to the mayor. "What happened to the monsters anyways?"

"Yes, well, a rather large caravan came by just a few hours ago and its mercenary escort cleared them out." The mayor told them.

"Mercenaries?" Motoyasu said, his eyes flashing momentarily with interest. In the game he had played, mercenaries were fighters that one could hire to temporarily help with the fighting. They were most handy early game, when your NPC allies would be too low of level to really help out and you probably didn't have many friends. They would let you hunt in areas above your weight class and jump start your character. Later on, they could be used to help draw aggro in more powerful fights, only made slightly less useful by their uncontrollable nature.

Unlike Guild Member NPCs which would come and go based on a relationship system, Mercenaries would stick around until the end of their contracts. Meaning Motoyasu wouldn't have to worry about them suddenly up and leaving on him. They weren't companions, just hired hands, but they would do the job they were paid to do.

"How strong are these mercs?" Motoyasu asked out of curiosity.

"They are rather strong and becoming rather famous too. Though not as strong as Spear-sama, of course." The Mayor said hurriedly. "Has the Hero heard of the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird?"

"Mercenary Saints? Seems like a bit of an oxymoron." Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. "Just another stupid rumor, I'm sure."

The Mayor looked like he wanted to object for a second before just folding in on himself and gave an almost passive reply. "They are called the Mercenary Saints because they will take any job requested of them, even from the poorest of towns, and will never ask for any more than the people can pay. They sometimes work for nothing at all. Save for the materials they scavenge from the monsters' bodies. They also help the sick and injured."

"Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird." Motoyasu said, rolling the words around in his mouth. They sounded kind of heroic. While hiring mercs was usually shunned, since most players preferred more customizable party members, or individuals with backstories, they weren't exactly ineffective. Besides, this world was a little more complex of a society than the videogames had been. "Alright, I'm interested, where did these mercs head off to?"

* * *

The caravan had settled down not far from the town, with several of the members of the caravan going into town to buy whatever clothing and blankets they could be spared, as well as a few musical instruments. Even so, when Motoyasu first reached the place, the first thing he noticed was the poor condition of the people's clothing.

Most of the people were dressed in little more than rags. These conditions insulted the girl's sensibilities so much that they constantly tried to get Motoyasu to turn back. He understood, flowers like them should be kept in beautiful surroundings, but curiosity drove Motoyasu forward.

This was the first time he had seen so many Demihumans in one place. Sure they were here and there around the Adventurers' Guild and the marketplaces, but he hadn't had a chance to interact with any of them. He had never seen even a single one at any of the parties he had been invited too. As such, he had never had the chance to invite one to join his party. But here, the Demihumans outnumbered the normal humans two to one.

Motoyasu would admit that, as a Japanese college student, he found a certain level of wonder in seeing real life girls with animal ears. Though the Beastmen, those Demihuman races that had more beast than human features, didn't exactly appeal to him. Animal Ear Moe, yes. Furry, no.

"Excuse me." Motoyasu said, as he approached one of the ladies, a cute girl with floppy bunny ears. The girl took one look at the Spear Hero and then bolted like the rabbit she resembled, leaving Motoyasu a little taken aback.

"How rude can you get." Myne scoffed after the girl was gone. "Come on Motoyasu-sama, we really shouldn't be in a place like this."

"You've got that right." A human male said. Motoyasu looked the man up and down. He was lean, with a large bite scar on his shoulder, barely covered by his clothes. He was carrying a large bag full of food and was distributing it out to the others. Though as he talked to Motoyasu, people moved away from him, looking with fearful eyes at Motoyasu and his party. "Almost everyone here would be frightened, seeing armed nobles like yourself. First thing they teach girls like her is that if a noblemen looks at you, run. If they are armed, don't stop running until you reach the next town."

"Huh? Why would you do that?" Motoyasu said in bewilderment. The man gave him a look.

"You can't seriously be that naïve, can you?" He said, as if Motoyasu was an idiot. Then he shook his head. "What are you even here for? I doubt you just came to our camp to see what it looks like."

"Well, I was looking to talk to the mercenary group that has been escorting this caravan." Motoyasu told the man.

The man's expression immediately darkened with suspicion. Several others around him seemed to suddenly gain a backbone and started to puff themselves up and began to glare. The girls huddled behind Motoyasu for protection, grabbing onto his shirt. "What does your kind want with the Saint?"

Under all of their gazes, Motoyasu suddenly felt uneasy. Not scared. He was the Legendary Hero after all. Just awkward. He hadn't had to deal with this kind of treatment before. Usually people had been all smiles and starry eyes when the Spear Hero road into town.

Oh, that's right, they didn't know that he was the Spear Hero.

"There is no need to be so nervous." Motoyasu said, flashing a smile as he twilled his spear around, letting it change shapes as he did so. The response was immediate as the people watching gasped in surprise. "I am Kitamura Motoyasu, the Legendary Hero of the Spear. I've come here to see if the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird would be capable recruits on my quest to save this world."

Whispers spread as the people stared at his Spear with awe and apprehension. The man with the bite scar was the first to recover his sense. "…Only the people who are uncomfortable with crowds as this far out. The Holy Bird is giving a performance over there. Where the Holy Bird is, the Saint is like to be around." The man said pointing the direction of a larger crowd. The sounds of music and singing could be heard coming from it.

"Thank you for your assistance." Motoyasu said with reassuring smile. The suspicion was not entirely gone from the man's eyes, but he returned to handing out food to the others.

Just like before, only more noticeable now that there were more people, the way parted before Motoyasu and his company as they came closer to the small gathering. While the crowd had more energy and happiness than those around the edge of the following, they all still turned to Motoyasu with fear and suspicion the moment they spotted him.

However, all thoughts about this treatment disappeared when he saw the people in the center of the group of people.

They were two girls, each with the appearance of a ten-year-old. One was a cute little girl with long white hair with a few black locks mixed in, with a pair of adorable round ears and a white and black tiger stripped tail. Her eyes were blue and had a glassy, unfocused appearance that made her look all the more like a fragile doll as she awkwardly moved about.

She had a kind of beauty about her that would make some people forget about even girls like Myne. But even this girl's looks immediately disappeared from Motoyasu's mind as he spotted the girl who was singing.

Flawless golden hair with a cute ahoge sticking out the top, shiny blue eyes, and an energetic smile. She danced around with bare feet, her white dress with blue ribbons fluttering around her, the picture of purity.

Motoyasu didn't believe his eyes when he saw her. His heart even skipped a beat.

A pair of perfect white angel wings grew out from her back.

"Flonne-chan" Motoyasu mouthed as he gazed upon her. The living personification of Angel Moe.

* * *

 **Tried to make Motoyasu slightly less hateable, by showing just how badly they were keeping him in isolation. Stopping him from knowing anything about anything. Probably didn't succeed. He's just too easy to hate.**

 **I'll have to try harder over the next chapter or two.**

 **Motoyasu: Father! Please give me your daughter!**

 **The World: The fuck is wrong with this guy?**

 **To be fair, he probably doesn't realize that even in the medieval setting, ten is too young. Twelve was considered to be the legal marrying age, with consent from the parents. And even then, no one did it but nobles who treated their kids like pawns.**

* * *

 **So now Shirou is loaded because he robbed the HQ of one of the biggest black market networks in the world.**

 **Rin: "Shirou, you have the money, now use it to get the power, then you can take over the world!"**


	28. Chapter 28

Fohl had been afraid to go to sleep the night before, just in case it all had been just a beautiful dream that would vanish on waking. That he would open his eyes and find that he was still in that cell and that his sister was still in horrible pain.

To see his sister in health and standing on her own two feet, it had filled Fohl with more joy than he had ever imagined feeling. Not only that, but Atla had become beautiful beyond words. Every one of the freed slaves had marveled at her as her bandages had been removed to reveal her flawless skin and doll-like features. Shirou had apologized that he could not fix her eyes without preforming more risky operations, but that hardly mattered. Atla hadn't need her eyes.

Life was better than Fohl had ever dared to hope for, after the death of their parents and grandfather. It would have been perfect… if it wasn't for one thing.

No sooner had Atla become confident in her ability to walk than she had immediately glued herself to Shirou's side. She had made sure to be in his carriage when they were traveling during the day. She had stayed near him during meals. She had watched as he instructed his companions in weapon use and practiced magic with them. She had become obsessed with the man, and Fohl didn't like it.

It wasn't that he wasn't grateful for Shirou's help, or his continued kindness and support. He just didn't like his sister getting attached to any man. Even if Shirou really was an honest to god Saint, capable of preforming miracles, a Saint still wasn't good enough for his sister. And she was too young!

Fohl just wished his sister wasn't so sensitive towards his aura. Every time she caught Fohl thinking negative thoughts about Shirou she would scold him.

Well, at least he could have peace of mind whenever Shirou had work to do around the group and Firo and Azu wanted to play.

The Holy Bird and Dragon's Daughter both took an immediate liking to Atla, even if they ignored Fohl's existence. According to Shirou, both Filolials and Dragons are attracted to holy energy and Atla had a very strong affinity for the holy element, enhanced by the method used to heal her. The three were practically inseparable, as Firo and Azu wouldn't let Atla get away even if she wanted to.

Seeing the three of them in the lion themed pajamas, Atla's colored to be white with black streaks, had been the cutest thing that Fohl had ever seen in his life.

Atla was happy. She was honestly happy for the first time in years. She was finally able to do all the things she had always wanted to try. Walking, running, riding on a Filolial's back and even dancing. And while Fohl had chased after her the entire time, threating over her safety and nearly jumping out of his skin every time she so much as stumbled, he couldn't help but be happy for her. Even her fumbles seemed graceful as she attempted to copy Firo's small dance as everyone in the camp cheered their encouragement.

Rita had been the one to suggest having the miniature party, something about 'stress being the enemy' and helping the freed slaves to relax from their tense states. So they had bought instruments for the occasion. Azu had mentioned that her mother used to play the harp for her dragon father and that she had always wanted to learn to play one, after which Shirou had produced a harp out of thin air. A harp that looked strangely like a bow with too many strings. Still, it produced the most beautiful sounds. And with instruction from one of the former… sex slaves, Azu was soon capable of playing a few simple songs.

As one of the songs came to an end, Firo decided that she and Atla had been up there for long enough and took the girl to go back and sit with Azu and Fohl, no matter how many of the watchers begged her to continue singing.

"That was fun! But now Firo is getting sleepy! Does Atla want to sleep with Firo and Azu again tonight!?" The girl shaped monster asked, her voice full of cheer.

"Hm, maybe." Atla said with a thoughtful hum. "Though, I'd rather sleep with Shirou-sama."

Fohl tensed up at his sister's words, prepared to object.

"Yeah, me too. But Master says that it is bad for girls and boys to sleep together if they aren't mates. I don't know how he can take it though. Firo would feel lonely sleeping by herself." Firo said, sulking a little.

"I see." Atla said nodding her head a little. Fohl let out a sigh of relief, seeing his sister giving up on the idea. "I'll just have to work harder than."

"Work harder at what!?" Fohl accidently shouted, earning laughter from the people around him. Though the laughter died as someone new approached.

"Excuse me." A blond-haired man dressed in red and silver armor, a long steel spear in his hand with a red jewel near the head. His eyes were red and wide, and he had a strong flush on his face as he approached Atla.

Fohl instantly wanted to kill this man.

"Please, Angel tell me your name." The man said.

"…Is Spear Guy talking to Firo?" Firo asked, pointing towards herself, seeming confused.

"Firo, what a wonderful name." The man said, his mouth opening in a stupid smile. "Such an ideal woman. Ah, other worlds are the best!"

"Firo doesn't get it, but Firo is being praised!" The bird brain said, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her tiny chest.

Atla reached up and pulled gently on Firo's dress, in order to get the girl's attention. "Be careful. This man's aura is stronger than normal, and I'm sensing impure intentions from him."

That was all Fohl needed to hear. If Atla said that the man had impure intentioned, then that was what he had. She was never wrong about anyone. Fohl was on his feet, standing between the girls and the invader in a flash and planted a kick in the man's stomach, knocking him back.

"Hey, what was that for?" The man asked as he regained his footing, pulling his hand to his stomach, no in surprise than in pain. He didn't move as far as Fohl had expected, so the man must have been a high level, at least 50. Well, didn't matter. No matter what level he was, Fohl wouldn't let him get close to Atla.

"Shut up! If Atla says you have bad intentions then that's what you have, and I'm not going to let anyone like you touch my sister!" Fohl growled at the man, raising his fists.

"Onii-sama. I said impure, and they are directed towards Firo, not me." Atla said with a sigh.

"Hey, I wasn't going to touch anyone!" The man said defensively.

"How dare a lowly demihuman raise their hand against Motoyasu-sama." One of the women, a red head, snarled at them. It seemed she was too stupid to realize her surroundings.

"Guys this crowd doesn't look happy." A second girl said, this one with short brown hair. She moved herself closer to the spearman, as if for protection.

"They have impure intentions for the Holy Bird!?" "Going after a couple of little girls!" "You Noble scumbags!" "You people think you can push us around!"

The man's groupies seemed mad about Fohl hitting the guy, but they were silenced as the hundreds of former gladiators were starting to get angry. The memories of shocks received from their former masters had kept them at bay, but with an implied attack on the cheerful girls who had brought them happiness had stirred them into a near furry within moments.

"Hm… It's okay! Master says that Firo should just ignore bad people, and if they try to touch her, Firo just needs to kick them!" Firo said cheerfully, shocking everyone around. "Spear Guy is a little tough, but Firo is WAY stronger!"

"…I suppose that is true." Atla agreed with a nod. Many of the freed slaves exchanged looks. They HAD seen the child in action before.

"Hey, don't say things like that." The spearman said trying to approach the girl. "I really just wanted to talk. I won't touch anyone, real…"

His words cut off as his extended hand was grabbed and he was flipped through the air and slammed into the ground hard enough to make him gasp. Before he could even move Rita positioned her spear in front of his throat.

"I suggest you leave, before someone gets hurt."

* * *

This was not going according to plan.

Well, Motoyasu hadn't really had a plan, but if he had had one, this definitely wouldn't be how it was supposed to go. Honestly, he had only wanted to talk to the Moe Angel Girl and then he was being accused of being impure and being attacked. They were calling Firo the Holy Bird.

Were these people a bunch of crazed cultists? Burn the impure and all that?

He honestly hadn't intended to touch her. Look at her, sure, but not touch. He knew better than to touch. He wasn't Naofumi.

But before could explain himself, or even knew what was going on, he had been flipped through the air and landed on his back, then a woman pointed a spear at his throat.

The first thing that Motoyasu noticed was that the woman standing above him was gorgeous. Like, Waifu gorgeous. She was a fox girl, with soft red hair and silver eyes, and was dressed in a light blue exotic dancer outfit that one might see on a stage at an idol concert. Though if he had to pick between the fox girl and the angel, Motoyasu would have chosen Firo any day.

Then, Motoyasu's eyes went to the spear. That was when his jaw really dropped.

[Short Spear with a Water God's Blessing – Quality: Legendary – Base Power: 76 – Equip Bonus: +28 attack, +15 dexterity, +13 speed, +10% damage-to-spirits, +15% damage-to-monsters, +30% damage-to-demons – Unique Ability: [Water Control], Water Breather, True Damage (small), +25% damage-to-monsters, +70% damage-to-demons – Level Requirement: 73]

'Fucking hell! What is that spear!' Motoyasu thought to himself as he read the stats on it. The Legendary Holy Spear allowed Motoyasu to read the stats on any spear he saw, even before he copied it, but he had never seen a spear like this one before. Even the strongest man-made spears he had found thus far hadn't had even half its stats, or its level requirement.

Quality: Legendary.

A weapon that was legendary in its own right. Was this girl one of the Mercenaries? Where in the world did a mercenary get a weapon like that? With a True Damage modifier, giving it the power to damage enemies no matter how much Defense they had, it was practically a cheat weapon.

No wonder, it was blessed by a God!

She looked too young to be the leader of the Mercenaries, but if this was the kind of equipment the mercenaries had, then Motoyasu might have hit the jackpot. All he needed to do is explain who he was and hire them.

"Please this is all just a misunderstanding, I only wish to talk." Motoyasu said, holding his hands in a sign of surrender. Something that earned him a bit of a nick of his cheek, as holding your hands up to show that you have no intention to fight loses some meaning when you can't let go of your weapon.

"If you mean that, then I suggest you put your weapon down." The woman said, her voice calm and threatening.

"I would if I could, but I'm afraid I can't." Motoyasu said, trying to keep a friendly tone. Though he was now realizing just how screwed he was. One move and this woman could take his head off with that spear. Would any amount of plot armor protect him from a weapon that was blessed by a god? "Let me introduce myself. I am Kitamura Motoyasu, the Legendary Hero of the Spear, and I came here to see if the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird would be capable recruits on my quest to save this world."

Many of the surrounding people whispered in shock at Motoyasu's declaration about his identity.

"The Spear Hero?" The fox girl said, blinking in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed. "If you are going to lie, you should at least come up with one that people would actually believe."

"Say what?" Motoyasu said, not sure what else to say.

"I've seen both the Sword and Shield Heroes, and while the Shield Hero was… odd, you could tell that they weren't ordinary men just by being around them. It was like their every step would change the world forever. I don't get that impression out of you." The girl said with a dismissive flick of her chin. "Besides, I would have never been able to throw them so easily."

Motoyasu's mouth twitched. He couldn't help it. Being compared to Naofumi made his blood boil and being thought as inferior to the weakest hero. He was better than Naofumi, not just stronger, but a better person. Not that it took much to beat that bastard in either of those categories.

All around him, people were talking, either saying how it was shameful to impersonate a hero or speaking in wonder about the Shield Hero. What the hell was wrong with these people? How could they seem enthralled by a rapist?

"That's enough, Rita." A man's voice cut through the crowd, who all fell silent. People made room as a man with long white hair, dressed in black armor with a sort of red clothe on his shoulders and arms. Motoyasu saw the man's face and his gold eye, and for some reason they seemed familiar. Like the guy looked like his old high school teacher or something. He seemed the right age for it, with all his white hair, looking like a man in his mid or even late forties, even if he was built like a truck.

"Sensei?" The fox girl said, removing the spear from Motoyasu's throat. "This suspicious individual was approaching the children, so I apprehended him. Then when I told him to leave, he tried to get me to let him continue by claiming to be the Spear Hero."

"I see." The man said looking at Motoyasu's face and then at his spear. He smiled a little. "As much as I approve of your caution, that is indeed the Legendary Holy Spear. So I suppose that makes this man the Hero of the Spear."

"Wait, he really is the Spear Hero!?" Rita shouted, looking taken aback.

"I hope that you and your companions will forgive my student. I taught her to be cautious at all times and around all people. This is a cruel world and it doesn't favor those who walk blindly into danger, as I am sure you are your companions have just experienced." The man said as he approached Motoyasu, holding out a hand to help the man up. "Just so you know, more than half of the people here are former gladiators who only just recently escaped the slave pits. Spear Hero or not, antagonizing over eight hundred gladiators isn't a smart idea. They aren't bad people, but they have seen the worst the world has to offer and will retaliate appropriately if they suspect ill intentions. Even if you have yet to commit a crime."

It seemed that with this man's presence the group immediately calmed down. The mob went from being prepared to kill Motoyasu to seeming sheepish in an instant.

Motoyasu was more surprised by the mention of gladiators and slave pits. People forced other to fight for their own amusement? That's barbaric. Did that kind of stuff really happen? He had known about the colosseums, even participated at one to put on a show and make a little money for some high-quality armor, but it had been a fight against willing participants or captured monsters, not slaves.

"I wasn't trying to antagonize anyone." Motoyasu said, taking the offered hand. Glad that at least someone was going to be reasonable. "I just wanted to find the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird so that I could talk to them."

"An unknown group of people in flashy clothes walked into my village with weapons… I'd be willing to bet there is more than one sad tale here that starts along those lines. Next time you wish to enter a camp or village, flag someone down and ask them to send a message to the leader. Don't walk straight in like you own the place. It puts people on edge." The man advised.

"Noted. Won't happen again." Motoyasu mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

"Good. My name is Shirou. I suppose I am the leader of the mercenaries you are looking for, though considering there are only four of us, the term leader hardly seems appropriate. I'm more like their father than anything else." Shirou said with a smile and shrug, as if to say 'what can you do'.

"That's right! Master if Firo's father!" Firo shouted cheerfully as she jumped up and grabbed into the man's waist, holding on in such a way that her legs dangled above the ground… so cute. Motoyasu felt jealous. He had to shake his head in order to get his brain back in order.

Four people actually suited his needs quite well.

Since EXP was divided evenly among party members, regardless of level and with only a small bonus to the one who actually secured the kill, increasing the number of members in your party didn't have that many draw backs… so long as everyone was contributing. If you had six party members, you were killing six times as many monsters as a single person could and it would be safer to take down stronger opponents which could give more EXP.

However, after a party got larger than six members, there was a hit to the total EXP earned by the group for killing the same monsters. As such, it was best to keep your party to being six or less members if possible, and no more than ten at the most.

Motoyasu currently had four girls with him, so with the four mercs, he would have a party of nine individuals. More than the suggested number, but not overly so, and since Motoyasu's girls weren't exactly contributing to the kill count, the total EXP gain would still be massively increased.

He felt a little guilty, thinking such a thing. Myne, her friend Lucy, and the other girls put a lot of faith in Motoyasu to protect them and they were always cheering him on. But even with the buff and healing magic they could provide, and the limited fire support, they didn't bring in any EXP themselves. And if he could get some of the mercs to assist during his nighttime raids, then they could get some serious grinding done.

…Besides, having the Holy Bird's mercenaries around meant having Firo around as well.

"Well Oyaji-san, I'd like to hire you and your group to assist me in preparing for and fighting against the Waves." Motoyasu said proudly.

The smile disappeared from Shirou's face, and his eyebrow might have twitched. What? It was supposed to be funny. Oyaji-san meant both an older, more matured man, and was informal for 'father'. Maybe he didn't appreciate the joke, or the Spear didn't translate it right.

…Or maybe he mistook it and thought that Motoyasu was referring to him as father because he wanted to pursue a relationship with his daughter… Now that would be a screw up.

"I see." He said slowly. "I'm sorry to say that my group actually has a very busy schedule to keep. So we won't be able to help you. But if there are any people here who wish to join you, they are free to."

"…Huh?" Motoyasu said, not entirely believing that the man had turned him down, even knowing that he was the real Spear Hero. "Come on, don't play around. This is the Waves were talking about. The fate of the world stuff. What could possibly be more important than helping one of the Legendary Heroes save the world?"

"Everyone has their own jobs that they need to take care of. We need to finish escorting these people." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "Also, I am from the far east. My people don't practice the Four Saint Faith, or any of its derivatives. So we don't believe that the Legendary Heroes are required to fight the Waves."

"You're joking." Motoyasu said, his shoulders falling. So much for his time with a really life Moe Angel.

"…Well, I suppose I should at least give you a chance to prove yourself." Shirou said, catching Motoyasu's attention. "How about a bet. The two of us will have a little dual, and if you can manage to impress me, I'll join your group. But if you lose, you have to have a drink with me and listen to this 'oyaji-san' ramble on about philosophy." Shirou said, glancing over a Rita with a smile. "I do love the subject, but every time I bring it up with little Rita, she always gets mad at me."

"You aren't a villain!" Rita shouted with defiance, earning a chuckle out of the older man. Motoyasu had no idea what that was about.

"If that's all it takes, then let's do this." Motoyasu said with a new more confident smile. He was a Legendary Hero, he could take on some oyaji.

"Shirou-sama has an annoyed aura." Atla mumbled, though Motoyasu didn't hear her.

"Guy is going to get what he deserves." Her brother scoffed.


	29. Chapter 29

Having the Spear Hero just wander straight into his camp was lucky. Even if the man nearly got himself killed for his lack of common sense.

It was baffling to Shirou how the guy would have just walked straight into the camp, without any kind of introduction or escort, and right up to a pair of ten-year-old girls, in front of hundreds of people, and didn't expect there to be a problem.

Then again, Lancers had never been known for their keen survival instincts.

Shirou had been considering whether or not to reveal the truth about the Church's schemes to the guy, but the idiot would probably blab everything and get some poison mixed into his food. Guy would likely eat anything that one of the girls put in front of him without a single question.

That was how Cu Chulainn died in his legend too.

Maybe he could at least convince the man to ditch the dead weight. Four weapons and not a single monster killed with any of them. Unless those swords were meant to be decorative and those girls were all insane mages, Shirou couldn't fathom why they would be in the Spear Hero's party. Nor could he understand why they walked around in armor that had a massive amount of jewelry on it. Not Rin kind of jewelry, but the normal stuff. What had to be a small fortunes worth of jewels, but no enchantments worth mentioning.

Luckily, Motoyasu seemed to at least be fighting.

Even with his armor's self-repairing property, Shirou gained an exact knowledge of every scratch it had ever received when he had taken Motoyasu's hand to help him to his feet. The guy had been fighting often, and it showed in his level. Without the massive hoards he faced, or maybe the term exterminated was more accurate, during the Wave in Siltvelt, or the Mutant Griffin incident, Shirou would have also likely been around level 49 too.

Strangely though, most of his fights seemed to be at nighttime, resulting in him taking a lot of stupid hits because of visibility issues. It was only the fact that, in this world, Defense was bullshit which had kept the man alive. It was probably intentional, fighting against monsters that would be too weak to deal a critical blow, but that still didn't speak well of Motoyasu's skills.

Shirou had thought that Naofumi was a fluke, just like Shirou had been during the Grail War. Someone that had absolutely no business being there but happened to be at the right place, at the wrong time, and got roped into everything anyways. Shirou had assumed that Naofumi was the hidden talent who didn't know anything compared to the others but had the quality required anyways.

In other words, an unlucky bastard.

He had believed that the other two heroes would have surely been masters of their weapons.

But a mere glance at Motoyasu's weapon, and a check of all the features that Shirou knew about and that the man wasn't using, left Shirou baffled. Was he tried to save up the resources for later equipment, the same way Shirou started out? No, he didn't think so. At least, Motoyasu was still using the Enhancement feature, infusing the soul fragments of the slain monsters in order to gain bonuses against individual monster types. But he didn't make use of either Weapon Energy from weapon proficiency to Awaken his weapons, or Reinforcement.

Instead he had two new functions that Shirou hadn't yet known about.

The 'Tempering' feature was almost identical to the Reinforcement feature, only with each weapon having a unique ore required, and a none 100% chance of success, and a nonfinite number of times it could be performed. However if the Tempering failed, then the level reset, and you had to start over. Since the 'Tempering' feature that he was using wasn't cheap, and Motoyasu had burned rare and expensive ores in order to preform it, Shirou didn't find it terribly appealing.

Besides, he didn't want to have to have to deal with the cost it would take to Temper one of his Noble Phantasms, just to have it fail and reset the weapon. He had seen what doing such experiments had done to Rin.

It was the 'Status Enchanting' feature that really caught Shirou's attention.

[Status Enchanting]

[Individual Weapon forms can be Enchanted by infusing them with certain materials in order to add special properties, depending on the material used. Rare and more magically potent materials may give higher bonuses. If you use a new Enchantment, it will overwrite the old one.]

While this was absolutely NOT how enchanting worked, to the point where Shirou gained an uncontrollable twitch when he first noticed its name, it was undoubtably the more useful ability he had stolen from the Spear Hero.

The true power of the Status Enchanting feature was the ability to pick and choose different weapons to specialize in different ways. It was an unfortunate truth that the only real thing that distinguished most of the weapon forms was a little bit of the shape, the base damage and what equipment bonuses they had, all of which became mute when you got a new weapon with higher numbers and mastered the old form. But with Enchantment, you could actually create a reason to use one of your weapon forms over the others.

So far, Shirou had seen four different spear forms from Motoyasu. One was enchanted to specialize in defense, another on speed, a third for offense, and the final one specialized in SP recovery rate and Skill Power. The boosts weren't unsubstantial, nearly doubling one stat or another while the weapon was equipped.

But using those bonus stats had their weaknesses. Even without a weapon history for Shirou to work with, Motoyasu was like an open book. He would broadcast his intentions loud and clear every time he changed his weapon form.

Still, Status Enchantment would have to be the third most useful method for improving the Legendary Weapons that Shirou had seen thus far. With the second being Awakening forms and the first being Naofumi's Dismantling methodology.

He had instructed Jian to go ahead and experiment to her hearts content with some of the miscellaneous items they had lying about while Shirou kept himself entertained kicking Motoyasu around.

Now despite what some people might think, he wasn't doing this because of the disgusting way that the guy eyed Firo, or because he called Shirou 'Pops'. He was just trying to drag the fight out a bit in order to see if he could lure any more hidden secrets out of the Spear Hero.

Yep, he was doing it for completely nonpetty reasons.

"[Chaos thrust]!" Motoyasu shouted, his heavy trident blurring as he preformed three thrust attacks at such a high speed that most would think they happened all at the same time.

Shirou only shook his head at the poor placement of the thrust as he side stepped one, brushed off another with his left hand before deflecting the final attack with Jian in the form of Fugi-nee's cursed Tora-Shinai. The counterattack was quick and sent Motoyasu back down onto the ground, the previously red welt on his forehead starting to turn an interesting shade of purple.

The onlookers cheered as the man hit the ground. There was likely some kind of irony here about a group of former Gladiators cheering on a fight, but Shirou wasn't about to care.

"What the… hell level… are you?" Motoyasu asked between gasps for air.

"64." Shirou answered, honestly.

"Bullshit." Motoyasu said as he slowly got back up to his feet. Ah, the fabled 'Battle Continuation' of the Lancers. Though this one seemed to be on his last leg.

"As powerful as those special techniques of yours are, you might want to pace yourself a bit better. We've only been at this for five minutes, and you already look like you are about to die." Shirou suggested. While many of the Skills were indeed powerful, they drained the user quickly. Yet Motoyasu had been spamming them with no restraint at all, likely using them each time one came off of cooldown.

Motoyasu didn't waste his breath responding. He instead pulled out a potion from his spear.

Shirou raised an eyebrow, pretty sure that drinking a potion in the middle of a duel was some kind of breach of etiquette, but he just let the guy have it. He wanted this to continue anyways, both as a way to see more that the Spear Hero had to offer and to teach the man a lesson about flirting with his underaged daughter… I mean, about how to fight properly.

Getting back to his feet, he quickly built up some distance using the speed buffs granted by the heavy trident's Status Enchantments, before switching to a spear with a jagged head like a thunderbolt. The weapon that boasted his Skill Power Up. Since the welt on his head was still there, Shirou assumed that the potion was one to regenerate his SP. He was likely going to try to use one of his larger skills now. One that would take his entire SP pool.

Shirou's assumptions proved correct when Motoyasu jumped up into the air and thrust his spear forward. "[Meteor Spear]!"

It was most likely the strongest attack the man had. The flaming stone came hurtling towards Shirou, with the Hero of the Sword not really carrying.

Shirou supposed that he could have just dodged the attack, but nothing says 'stay the hell away from my daughter' like total humiliation.

With a small mental command to Jian, Shirou triggered Jian's [Dual Wielder] skill. Then he pulled out three copies of one of his hybridized forms. Though this was wasn't a sword he had shaped into another weapon, but rather, a shield that he had changed into a sword.

It was what he had dubbed, Rho Aias Type-Sword.

By adding the Sword idea to Rho Aias and removing the ideal-defense-against-thrown-weapons property, he had both made the 'Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens' into a weapon that Jian could copy and degraded it to the point where it would be usable at level 61. Sadly, the process came with drawl backs. The seven petals were reduced to just two, each being only a quarter as durable as the original. But with [Dual Wielder+] allowing Shirou to create up to four of them at once, and Jian intercepting and negating the damage taken for the breaking of individual layers, it was nothing to scoff at. And all Shirou needed to do was pay the SP cost for [Dual Wielder], an almost trivial cost.

The six thin petals made of pure bright pink energy shimmered into existence between Shirou and the oncoming attack. Shirou was even a little disappointed when out of the six layers of the three Rho Aias Type-Sword, only one layer broke. He'd give the attack an E on the scale of anti-army Noble Phantasms, and that was being generous.

Sure he had given Jian the green light to dump the entirety of their Green Lion Ant shells into a Status Enchantment. The multiple tons of chitin plating had more than doubled the Rho Aias Type-Sword's defensive properties. But still, wasn't this supposed to be the Spear Hero's big attack.

"What? What the hell was that?" Motoyasu said, again on his knees from having totally depleted his SP. "What kind of cheat character are you?"

"I thought I told you to pace yourself." Shirou said, before closing the distance before than the exhausted Motoyasu could even move and striking him once again in the forehead. "And when are you going to start blocking these?"

In the back of his mind, Shirou could hear Jian's cheer, happy to have Shirou proving that her chosen Hero was the strongest.

Oh, he was still getting back up.

While, the man certainly had the attitude of a Lancer. He would probably never give up, regardless of injure or hopeless odds.

Motoyasu took out another potion, while also muttering under his breath. "Faust Heal." The low level heal spell took affect and the injury to his head quickly diminished. The potion restored his SP quickly, as well as restoring some of his stamina.

However, this time he didn't immediately start trying to spam skills at Shirou. With his best attack blocked, he seemed confused as to how to even proceed. He just stood there with his spear at the ready. "If you are done trying to use your special attacks on me, how about I teach you how to use that weapon of yours properly." Shirou said, shifting Jian into the Iron Spear Sword form.

In order to block off the man's ability to see a spear's status, Jian used the effects of [Camouflage Sword] in order to mask the status into something of an ordinary spear.

Motoyasu seemed stunned as he looked at the suddenly transformed spear. "See how I'm holding it, keeping my wrist relaxed on the back hand, this is to…" Shirou said, starting the long and slow process of teacher the man how to use a spear.

* * *

Malty just wanted this to be over.

She had tried to keep the Spear Hero from interacting with the lowly Demihumans. She had tried to get him to ignore the clearly foreign mercenaries. She didn't want him talking to this so called 'Saint'. All she wanted was for him to do his job and listen to everything she said.

It hadn't been easy, keeping him unaware of everything going on, from foreign and domestic politics to religion. She had made sure that he only went to the right places, that he only accepted the correct party members, and that he only took the right quests. She had lied, and bullied and even made people disappear when necessary in order to keep Motoyasu-sama acting like the Hero the Church wanted him to be, all the while keeping him wrapped around her little finger and working towards the day when he would become her husband and secure her claim for the throne.

It had been a lot of work, but for some reason, when he heard about the mercenaries, he just had to meet them and try to get them to join his party. Malty had thought for sure that her carefully assembled house of cards was about to come tumbling down.

It started with the fact that most of the people in the caravan were Demihumans, and slaves at that, which had somehow gained their freedom. But her Motoyasu was still thick as a board and couldn't understand that the Demihumans were an underclass or often used as slaves in Melromarc. The rightful place of those subhumans. The suspicion and dislike they showed towards him gave Malty hope that they might just get out of the camp without him having learned anything, or better yet, with him having had a very negative experience with Demihumans. Something she tried her best to help along.

Then there was the girl with the wings. It had made Malty actually worried, seeing her chosen hero going gaga over a ten-year-old girl. Had Motoyasu been a closet pedophile all along? It would certainly explain a lot. Like how no matter how many times she hinted, trying to get him to move their relationship forward, he didn't take her. She had even had to satisfy her needs elsewhere while the man was off grinding EXP at night.

Had he been into much younger girls all along and just used his skirt chaser as a way to hide it? If this was the case, then Malty was screwed. After all, the tiny girl had a build more like Malty's bratty younger sister, rather than a real woman.

After that was the angry mob and the fox bitch who nearly killed Motoyasu, and her as well. She had been tempted to shout at them, inform them on her position and who they were messing with, but she quickly realized that would only make things worse.

She had breathed a sigh of relief when the 'Saint' showed up and not only calmed the mob down but rejected Motoyasu's request to party up. That was, until the man basically challenged Motoyasu to a duel. If Motoyasu won, then they would join the party, if he lost, they would have a long talk over a beer. A lose-lose situation for the Princess.

Then the fighting actually started and Malty was left shocked.

How in the world does a random mercenary she had never even heard of take down the Legendary Saint Hero of the Spear? It wasn't even a fight. He was using a toy sword and treating Motoyasu's special attacks like they were jokes.

Then, after publicly humiliating Motoyasu, he started to teach him spearmanship.

It was unbelievable. Maddening even. If this got out, then her Hero was going to be a laughingstock. Malty could only stand there, biting her lip in anger as it all took place.

Worse, soon he could call in his bet and they would have their 'talk'. With the man being such an obvious Demihuman sympathizer, this couldn't be allowed to happen. Malty would have to do something, before it was too late.

She would create a disturbance, and maybe even a riot. Motoyasu would use his Portal Spear to get them all to safety and then it would be over. He might be a little upset with her, but she could make up some excuse later. He would believe anything she said, so long as she used her teary eyes.

Making sure that neither Motoyasu or the white-haired man were looking, Malty raised her hand and started chanting. "I am the next Queen who commands the origin of power…" She would use a wide area effect fire spell, Fire Squall. It would spread chaos quickly and Motoyasu would have no choice by to wisp them away to safety.

However, before she could get past the first line, someone came running straight at her.

It was the blind Hakuko girl from before, who had called out Motoyasu for his lustful actions. She moved towards Malty at high speeds and before the Princess could cancel her spell and move, the small girl punched her in the stomach.

Malty gasped as pain shot through her entire body and she collapsed to the ground.

"What did you do to Myne you little monster!" Malty heard Lucy shout in panic.

"I will not allow anyone to attack Shirou-sama from behind." The Hakuko said simply. Lucy started to prepare to defend herself, but the girl quickly took down her as well.

She looked as if she would have continued if she hadn't been stopped.

"Atla, that's enough!" The white-haired man called out, immediately stopping the evil child.

"Yes, Shirou-sama." The evil thing said walking towards the man as he approached, her tail flicking in a pleased fashion.

"Hey what's going on? Myne, are you alright?" Motoyasu asked as he quickly ran to check on them.

* * *

"This was probably all just a misunderstanding, but it might be for the best if you take your party back to the village to rest. I'm going to have a talk with Atla and make sure she understands what she did. Then I'll meet you back in the village in an hour for our drink." Shirou said to Motoyasu as he supported the evil Princess.

"Yeah, sure." Motoyasu said with a short bow of the head. He was upset, that much was clear, but he understood that he was out of his weight class and wouldn't retaliate. "Don't suppose I left a good enough impression for you to consider joining up?"

"Maybe we will help you out here or there when we have the time, but no, you didn't impress me enough for us to give you our full support. You have natural talent, when you aren't just spamming those magical weapon attacks of yours, but you've got a long way to go before you qualify as a hero in my book." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "Keep on practicing though, and maybe you'll be able to beat me in another hundred years."

"Jeez, thanks for the vote of confidence." Motoyasu said with a sigh before turning and leaving with his girls.

"Well then, Atla. We need to have a talk." Shirou said, crouching down next to the girl to be at eye level, not that it really made much of a different.

"She was preparing a magical attack. Fire magic." Atla said.

"Atla didn't do anything wrong!" Fohl shouted, trying to

"Yes, I know." Shirou said with a nod. "That girl is the Princess of this country, and a very dangerous and manipulative woman. I don't doubt she was planning something. So I'm not mad at you for attacking her. I'm actually more impressed."

"Huh?" Fohl said, deflating.

"Atla is only level 1, correct?" Shirou asked, receiving a nod from the two siblings. "Well, those girls that Atla just knocked down were level 34 and level 35."

"Wait, are you serious?" Fohl asked, his eyes widening.

"Completely. So how is it that a level 1 girl managed to take down two people who were so much higher of a level than her?" Shirou said lifting up one hand. "Atla, could you punch my hand the same why you punched those girls earlier?"

"Alright." Atla said before getting into a stance and punching Shirou's palm with all she was worth.

Shirou raised an eyebrow as he felt the girl's Od, invading his body from the point of impact. Not only that, but her strength seemed higher than it should have been. The reinforcement was not perfect, not so high as to deck someone more than thirty levels over you through their defense stats, but it explained her unusually high speed.

"You've been copying the magic I use on my body during practice, haven't you?" Shirou asked the girl.

"Yes, that's right." Atla admitted with a smile.

"That was dangerous, and I would ask you not to do it again. Not without proper instruction." Shirou said, causing Atla, who was expecting to be praised to shrink down. "Don't get me wrong, it is very impressive that you've managed to copy it so quickly. It's just that my style of magic is dangerous if you don't understand what you are doing. You might end up crippling yourself again. Or worse."

"Huh! What kind of wield magic have you been teaching her!" Fohl shouted, angrily, though Shirou was starting to just ignore him.

"I'm sorry." Atla said lowering her head, her tail curling inwards.

Shirou smiled and gave the girl a pat on the head. "I'll explain to you how the magic works later. Then you should be safe to use it if you like." Shirou told the child who immediately brightened up. "Still, I'm even more impressed with that attack of yours. I'd never considered using my Od like that."

"What do you mean?" Atla asked Shirou with a tilt of her head.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order. Rita, could you come here real quick?" Shirou said, motioning for Rita to come forward. "Rita here is a fairly high level, and her defense is a lot higher than mine. Try giving her that same punch you gave me."

"Alright." Atla said before punching Rita on the shoulder. The fox girl's tails both became visible as she physically stiffened and let out a hiss of pain.

"Ow… God that hurt." Rita said, rubbing her shoulder.

"It seems that by injecting your Od, or internal magical energy, directly into the target, you can bypass their defensive stats all together." Shirou said, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner. "And little Atla did it all on instinct. Like I said, impressive."

Atla was practically glowing from the praise.

"Are you people just pretending all this?" Fohl asked, only to be given a punch to his stomach that sent him rolling on the ground in pain.

"If that's the case, then why wasn't Sensei affected the same way we were? Like you said, my raw defensive stats are higher." Rita asked.

"It's because I keep the magical energy inside of my body circulating. It give me a resistance to foreign magic inside of my body. But I'm not so sure how many people in this world are able to do the same things. And without that skill, Atla would be just as capable of hurting me as she was able to hurt you. And this is just what she managed to do without any real practice." Shirou said, shaking his head. "A one in a million talent, only made possible by her pure eyes."

"Shirou-sama, you are one of the Legendary Heroes, aren't you?" Atla asked.

Shirou just sighed. "I suppose it was only natural that you would find out after seeing me and Motoyasu side-by-side."

"Your weapons are a lot alike, though Shirou-sama's aura is a lot different. More active. Stronger." Atla said with a nod.

"Thank you for the complement, though I hope that you and your brother will keep who I am to yourselves. I'd rather not have anyone like that wicked princess trying to follow me around… I already have one 'shadow' to deal with." Shirou said, glancing into the depths on the camp in the direction he knew damn well Yami was in.

Would it have killed her to intervene and stop the Princess and the Spear Hero?

"Alright, but Shirou-sama, I have one request." Atla said holding her hands together and bowing towards Shirou. "Please, take me with you to fight the Waves."

"HUH!?" Fohl shouted, overcoming his pain with pure shock. Rita also gasped in surprise.

Shirou stared at the girl for a few moments before sighing. "I really should have seen this coming."

"What do you mean?" Rita asked, not sure how anyone could have expected a girl who just recovered from a debilitating disease to suddenly decide to fight in order to save the world.

"I said it before, Atla and Fohl are likely descendants of the old Legendary Heroes, and Pure Eyes are a sign that the user inherited the Fate of their ancestor. Atla has inherited the Legendary Heroes' duty to fight in the Waves of Calamity." Shirou explained before shaking his head. "I suppose I have no choice but to let her come along."

"What do you mean you have no choice!? All you have to do is say no!" Fohl shouted, gaining some attention from onlookers.

"You can't defy Fate simply by saying no. It doesn't work that way." Shirou said calmly. "If I turned her away, it would probably just mean that the next Wave will open up right above her head."

"Wait, is that what happened in Siltvelt?" Rita said, her eyes widening.

"Probably." Shirou admitted with a shrug. "I knew a man who traveled through time tens of thousands of times, trying to change his Fate. He was powerful and skilled beyond what you can imagine, and his target was like a newborn kitten next to him. And yet, after all those attempts, he failed every single time to escape his Fate."

"You mean Archer, don't you?" Rita said, recalling the story that Shirou had told her. Shirou only nodded in response.

In order to erase his own existence, Archer had tried to use the Resonance of Like Souls to preform a murder-suicide. By killing Emiya Shirou with his own hands, the damage to his own soul would have been enough to destroy him and release him from his eternal suffering. But no matter how many times he tried, or how easy it should have been, Archer could never succeed.

The funny thing was, if Archer had just walked up to Shirou and explained who he was and asked Shirou just to let himself be killed so that Archer could escape his eternal suffering, Emiya Shirou would have done it. It was only the Resonance of Like Souls that caused Shirou to hate Archer as much as Archer hated himself that stopped him from just sticking out his neck and letting the guy do it. Shirou himself didn't even realize that until years after the guy was gone. Now he didn't hate Archer. He just pitied him.

"So the question is, what is safer, being in the party of a Legendary Hero and gaining the training, equipment and levels needed to combat the Waves, or just having it happen to you?" Shirou said, looking at Fohl who seemed shocked. Then his face went into a resolved expression.

"I'm coming too." He said with finality.

"Of course."

* * *

 **Then for the next chapter, in which Shirou surprises everyone by really just blabbering on about philosophy rather than revealing any of the horrible truths to Motoyasu.**


	30. Chapter 30

Motoyasu honestly hadn't thought that Shirou would really be lecturing him about philosophy.

After they arrived back in the town and got a few rooms, Shirou had shown up. He had apologized at length to Myne for Atla's actions, saying that she had mistaken the buff spell, which Myne had intended for Motoyasu to help him keep up his strength, for an attack. The Princess had still been cross about it, but after a bit of sweet talking from Motoyasu, she had agreed to let it slide. Though she still insisted that he let her sit on his lap while he drank, in order to make it up to her.

Not that Motoyasu minded having her sitting in his lap, the top of her red hair resting against his cheek, so that he could smell her shampoo. Though between that and the beer, it was really hard trying to follow what the hell Shirou was talking about.

It was like his Intro of Western Philosophy all over again, only the teacher was actively asking for his input at times. Shirou had seemed interested in knowing what exactly Motoyasu thought a Hero was.

It was a damn deep question, and one hard to answer, even when totally sober and not aroused. It was weird, being a Legendary Hero, but not being able to exactly say what a Hero even was.

In the end, the best answer that Motoyasu could give was that a hero was like a good Senior. Someone who watched out for the little guy and set a good example for people to follow. Someone who could help lighten the mood and get people through their tough times. Motoyasu once had a Senior like that looking out for him, and he had tried to be the same way.

Tried, but failed.

Well, the answer had seemed to be good enough for Shirou to stop annoying him about it. Even if he shook his head, as if to say that Motoyasu's answer was childish. Motoyasu did his best to convince himself that he didn't care about Shirou's opinion about his ideals for being a hero. Even if the Oyaji was pissing him off.

Though as the topics changed to the nature of meaning and how to categorize existence, he almost wished they would go back to talking about what it meant to be a hero.

Myne had actually gone to sleep in his arms. Though Rita, the fox girl from before, was still awake and listening to her Sensei. Even if her expression said she was as lost as Motoyasu was.

"So now, as well as form, we have history, matter, energy, and purpose with which to define an objects existence." Shirou said as he held up his empty glass, looking at it as if it contained all the answers of the universe. However, he paused after this sentence and gave Motoyasu a look. "You really aren't interested, are you?"

"Ah… sorry, Oyaji." Motoyasu said weakly. He found that he could no longer think of the man as anything other than an Oyaji. An old and very experienced man. Though considering he had bent the Spear Hero over his knee and given him a paddling, the man was no ordinary Oyaji.

Shirou rolled his eyes. "Another one who doesn't understand the power hidden within philosophy. Just so you know, these ideas about form are the building blocks of my magic." Shirou said, holding out his hand. A gauntlet came into existence, first its outline being traced with blue lines and then everything else being filled in until a very familiar object was in Shirou's hand. It was Motoyasu's own gauntlet.

"How do you do that?" Motoyasu asked as he stared at the object.

"Philosophy. I copy the form, reconstruct the history, use my magical energy to fake the matter used in its creation, provide it with energy and define its purpose. I observe its existence, and then I convince the world outside that what I preserve is the truth." Shirou said with a cocky smile. "I created this magic based on the philosophical principles that we have been discussing."

"Is that so." Motoyasu said. He was impressed, really, but it sounded like it had taken a lot of work, and he didn't exactly have the time to start trying to practice magic. Even know, he couldn't use any magic besides the beginner level stuff he learned from the orbs.

"You still aren't convinced? Well, what if I told you that your Legendary Holy Weapon worked off of the same principle, and that if you know how to manipulate it, you can gain even greater power?" Shirou said with a smile.

Now Motoyasu was listening. Though only because he was annoyed. "Huh? What makes you think you know something about the Legendary Spear that I don't?"

"Philosophy." Shirou said simply. "From what I understand, you can unlock new forms for your spear by absorbing different monsters into it, correct?"

"That's right." Motoyasu said with a nod of the head.

"So, the Legendary Spear breaks the monster down and extracts its form in order to create a new weapon type. But what if rather than absorbing the monster whole, you broke it down into pieces?" Shirou said, walking Motoyasu through the logic. "While the monster as a whole processes one 'form', is that monster not made up of many different components; teeth, claws, bones, skin, meat and so on? And don't all of these components have their own forms?"

Motoyasu tried to follow what the guy was saying, but just gave up. "Oyaji, I have had both too many and too few beers to understand what you are talking about." He wasn't drunk. Just a light buzz.

"Then how about a demonstration." Shirou said, reaching back behind him and bringing out a backpack. From it he lifted out a bit of reptilian hide and some teeth. "These teeth and this hide were both taken from the whiskered dragon spawn we killed earlier today. Try absorbing both of them into your spear, visualizing them not as both part of the same monster, but as each an individual entity."

Motoyasu looked at the items and shrugged. He wouldn't turn away a new weapon form, even if he was only expecting to get one out of it. However, when he absorbed the hide and then one of the teeth, his eyes widened as he received two separate weapon formers.

[Requirements met: Whiskered Dragon Spawn Hide Spear]

[Requirements met: Whiskered Dragon Spawn Tooth Spear]

"It… it actually worked." Motoyasu said in amazement.

"We aren't done yet. Tell me, do you gain a complete understanding of what the form of a cat is by looking at a single cat? No, there are imperfections in the material world that muddles the ideal form. It is only by comparing several hundreds of individuals that we can gain true insight into the ideal form." Shirou said, pushing the bag over to reveal that it was full of teeth.

Motoyasu swallowed before feeding the teeth to the Spear one by one, until he received a new message.

[Whiskered Dragon Spawn Tooth Spear: Mastered]

"You… you can master weapon forms by repeatedly absorbing them?" Motoyasu said, his eyes wide as his brain processed what he was seeing.

Each mastered form could provide a small boost to one's stats. While it was difficult to master forms, making it only a small factor to be considered. Motoyasu had only managed to master around thirty weapon forms so far. But with this new method he could master dozens… no, hundreds of weapon forms without needing to focus on them!

Dammit!

He had spent all of his stocked resources on preforming Status Enchanting! If he had known this before, he could have had all his base stats almost doubled instead of having individual weapons that could boost single stats!

"Motoyasu-sama? What is it, what's wrong?" Myne asked, her voice worried. Motoyasu had started to shake, waking the beautiful woman up.

"Nothing at all! The Oyaji here just showed me a method I could used to gain more power out of the Legendary Spear!" Motoyasu said with a wide grin before turning back to Shirou. "Thank you, Oyaji-san, I will never consider Philosophy a blow off course again!"

"…You're not going to stop calling me that, are you?" Shirou said with a sigh. "Both the power of my magecraft and the Legendary Holy Weapons have their roots in the world egg theory. Because of this, they are limited by the user's perception. If you think you know everything, that is when you will stop growing. So never stop questioning everything. Anyways, let us continue with a look at the concept of history. This will lead into the idea of the accumulation and passing on of experience, which will be very important for…"

"MASTER!" Motoyasu jumped as the window of the inn burst open and the most bizarre thing he had even seen stuck its head in. It looked like a giant bird with its head sticking out of the mouth of a lion, the lion's jaws were split open impossibly wide with the attempt to swallow such a large creature whole. "MASTER, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY! FIRO DOESN'T NOW WHAT TO DO! PLEASE HELP, MASTER!"

The giant chicken cried… in a voice that was oddly familiar.

"Firo, calm down, what's the matter?" Shirou said getting up and talking to the bird.

'FIRO!' Motoyasu's mind went into shock as he realized the white and pink bird was the perfect little Angel girl he had seen before. The 'Holy Bird'.

This still didn't explain the lion's mouth.

"It… it's Azu. She's bleeding. She's bleeding and it won't stop." Firo said starting to tear up. Motoyasu vaguely remembered Azu being the woman with golden horns and white scales who had been playing on the harp when he had first showed up. She had been beautiful as well. Damn, Oyaji sure did surround himself with beautiful women, then treated them like children. "Firo doesn't want Azu to die. NO!"

"Oh." Shirou said with a deep intake of breath. "I forgot this would be coming. Don't worry Firo, Azu is fine, she isn't in any danger." He then turned back to Motoyasu. "I'm sorry. I need to go and handle this."

"Why, is something wrong?" Motoyasu said, sitting up straight. Myne had fallen off of him when he had jumped in surprise. Though she was too busy staring at Firo to complain.

"No, it's nothing. Azu is having her first period." Shirou said. Motoyasu's jaw just dropped. "Look, I really need to go and take care of this. You go hunting at night, don't you? Take Rita with you. She can sleep tomorrow during our trip." Shirou said as he got up and went for the door. He stopped before leaving it though and looked back at Motoyasu. A heavy magical presence filled the room and the glasses and window started to shake. Motoyasu felt like he had a blade to his throat. "Remember this, if you lay one finger on Rita, I will personally castrate you."

Without waiting for Motoyasu to replay, he was out the door and gone.

"That is one hell of an overprotective father you have there." Motoyasu said with a gulp. 'Level 64 my ass. How does he know I farm at night?'

"We should get moving. I'd rather not waste time." Rita said as she got to her feet and checked her equipment. Pulling out her own backpack, which contained a set of very high-grade looking armor. "I'll need a moment to change. Peek and die."

Normally, Motoyasu would peek, but… even if Rita herself didn't kill him, Shirou would be after his prized jewels.

Motoyasu sent out the party request and the fox girl accepted it immediately. 'Level 53. A pretty high level.' He thought, then he looked at her stats and his eyes bugged out. 'WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT KIND OF TRAINING DID THAT GUY PUT HER THROUGH!?'

Apparently, Motoyasu really should have paid more attention in his philosophy class.

* * *

Rin and Luvia didn't really know what to say. Zelretch, the Wizard Marshal, didn't usually get visiters. Yet that day they saw him sitting across from a small white-haired girl in a frilly pink and white dress with angel's wings growing out the back. Both Rin and Luvia couldn't help but notice that she seemed to fit the 'magical girl' stereotype. If you ignored what she was actually doing.

The child was devouring several large cakes. The kind that one might have at a large public gathering, or a wedding. She wasn't bothering with any kind of fork, just shoving the stuff in her mouth with her hands. She was also radiating a frankly ridiculous amount of raw power. Enough to make the young women nervous.

"Um, Sensei, who is this?" Rin said hesitantly.

"This is Fitoria, the God of Birds. She noticed my mark on Emiya-kun and has come to inform me that Emiya Shirou has been summoned to her world in order to be the new Hero of the Sword." Zelretch said in the most casual of manners.

"He what!?" Luvia shouted in surprise. For some reason more surprised about Shirou being missing than having a literal God sitting across from Zelretch stuffing its face with cake.

"But I just saw him an hour ago!?" Rin shouted as well.

"No, no. Not this World's Emiya. To be honest, I'm not sure which Emiya was summoned. They do tend to just fall of the radar or die heroically, if left to their own devices. I'll have to do a head count." Zelretch said before shaking his head. "Anyways, Fitoria-sama just wants me to know that I am not to interfere and that she will take care of Emiya's return trip to his proper place in space and time if need be, after his duties are performed. If I do interfere, she has promised to destroy one thousand of my iterations as punish… So, Emiya-kun is on his own."

"Well… so long as it isn't our Emiya." Luvia said with a shrug. Not her timeline, not her problem.

"You can't be serious. You are just going to leave him trapped in another world?" Rin said accusingly, crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry, I'd rather not anger this lovely goddess here." Zelretch said, gesturing towards the small girl, how wasn't even paying attention to them. "Besides, he'll be fine. I expect he'll make Godhood in a year or so. Then he can just find his own way back home."

""…Sorry, what?"" Rin and Luvia said together.

The Goddess, Fitoria, stopped eating and raised her head. "I should be going back."

"So soon? A pity. It seems like it's been years since the last time you visited." Zelretch said with a small sigh. "Perhaps I should pay you a visit next time. I'll be sure to bring lots of cakes."

The girl nodded her approval as she stood up. The goddess suddenly grew in size, becoming a bird so big that its body was pushing up against the high ceil, even as she was bent over. She then gobbled down all of the remaining cake at once, in what to her must have seemed like a relatively small bite.

An unbelievable magical presence pressed down on the young women who were instantly flattened to the ground, though Zelretch remained looking quite comfortable in his chair. A moment passed and the pressure was gone, leaving the entire Clocktower wondering 'what the fuck was that?'

"Incredible. Further proof that Magical Girls really are the most powerful beings in the multiverse."

* * *

"Don't add so much so quickly. You need to permeate the energy without disrupting the structure." Shirou told Atla as he instructed her on the use of Structural grasp and Reinforcement.

It had been a night to remember. Teaching an eight-year-old girl who looked like a 23-year-old what a period was. Shirou would admit, his life wasn't dull.

As Firo, Atla and Fohl had never heard about the female menstrual cycle either, Shirou had explained it to all of them while he was helping to take care of Azu. It had left Firo and Atla asking an endless stream of questions about how it all worked, while Fohl died of embarrassment.

Into the next day, Azu shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes a little dazed.

When the morning came, Motoyasu saw them off, seeming disappointed about not catching Firo while she was in her 'Angel form' as she was already prepared to pull the carriage. He had made a small fuss at first about having the girl pulling the heavy-laden carriage, but with multiple assurances from Firo that she enjoyed the task, he lamented.

Rita hadn't learned anything new by observing him the night before, and only grew one level. She had also reported her disapproval, as Motoyasu seemed to have tried to recruit her behind Shirou's back.

The fist sized rock in Atla's hands fractured and crumbled into dust, leaving the girl with a distraught look on her face. "Don't worry. Everyone breaks their first few. I broke hundreds of things before I managed to get it right." Shirou reassured her as he handed her a new rock.

"I don't understand. I'm not using that much power." Atla said as she started again.

"It doesn't take much to break a rock. The more complex the object, the stronger it's soul, and rocks are about as simple as they get. Stronger souls passively resist the intrusion of foreign magical energy, even if it isn't as effective as my active protection. The amount of power you used yesterday to hit your brother was around the same as you would need to break that boulder over there." Shirou explained, pointing to a rock as big as Firo off to the side of the road.

"Are you serious?" Fohl said, flinching slightly as his hand went to his stomach.

"That's the Peerless Transformation Style, correct?" A woman, the one that Shirou had help see to the more private parts of dealing with Azu's period, said as she jogged up to them. Shirou believed her name was Sadeena, and even though she was rather beautiful, with long black hair and blue eyes, she was one of the former gladiators, rather than a sex slave. Too willful and dangerous.

Along her sides and neck, her skin was blackened by her Demihuman traits. According to Rita, she was a Sakamata, a sort of Orca Demihuman, which was one of the races that could be counted among the top five most powerful in the world and considered to be peerless in the ocean. Shirou couldn't help but wonder how such a woman ever was captured by Slavers, as she was level 98, close to the ceiling of what was obtainable by normal individuals. Something that Shirou found shocking, considering the documents the Slaver had on her said she was 23.

Still, from what Shirou had seen of her stats, during the short time before he released her from the Slave Seal, she was just barely Rita's equal when the Kitsune was level 50.

She had adopted the position of being everyone's 'Onee-san', so when she got word that one of the girls was in destress, she headed right over.

"Sorry, didn't mean to spy, I just wanted to drop in to check on little Azu. Times of heat are hard on the descendants of dragons, and we are passing over one of the underground magic veins." Sadeena said, as she climbed onboard their carriage to take a look at Azu.

"No problem." Shirou said, a bit curious as to how the woman knew that they were passing a leyline, but knowing better than to ask. The woman had been much more knowledgeable about dragons, and their descendants, than Shirou himself had been.

"Hey Onee-san, what's the Peerless Transformation Style thing you were talking about?" Fohl asked as Sadeena checked on Azu's condition. Sadeena had been one of the few people in camp that Fohl respected.

Heaven knows the kid didn't respect Shirou.

"Well, it was supposed to have been a legendary fighting style, meant to help fight against the Waves without the help of the Legendary Heroes, by letting normal people damage monsters that were much higher levels than them by bypassing their defenses and by storing up energy to be released in a single devastating attack. The style is said to have never lost on the battlefield." Sadeena said with a smile. "I heard that there was only a single master left in the world, and that it was about to die out entirely, so I am surprised to see our Saint-sama practicing it. I suppose it would explain how he could have killed a pair of high-level griffins with nothing but his bare hands."

"Has everyone realize that was me by this point?" Shirou asked with a sigh, he choose not to comment on the Peerless Transformation Style. For all he knew they worked off of the same principle as what he was doing, but he wouldn't make guesses. "What's the point in disguising yourself if everyone figures it out later?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me, Sword-sama?" Sadeena said in a slightly coy voice. Then, when she saw Shirou and the others react, she burst out laughing. "I knew it! With how strange the world twists around you, I figured you had to be an other-worlder."

Shirou tried to think of a response, but before he could, Azu spoke up… or at least her body did. "The Water Dragon Priestess isn't wrong about his identity as the Hero of the Sword. However, the disturbance that he creates is not a quality of the summoned heroes. I have met many Heroes in my time, but he is unusual even among their number." The Pure-Blooded Dragon, Tyr, said as he looked out through Azu's now red eyes.

"Azu, what are you saying?" Rita said, confused.

"With her dragon's blood stirring, I thought it was best for Azu to rest, lest she try to take a mate before her heart is ready. Grown she may be, but she is still young. I am the dragon of the Bent-Ridge Mountains, Tyr. I thank you all for taking such good care of my daughter." Tyr said with a bow of the head.

"Oh my." Sadeena said, bowing back to Tyr. "Forgive this one for not recognizing an elder."

"It is understandable. I can't imagine any of my brothers would have placed their core fragments into a demihuman child." Tyr said with a slight shrug.

"What's going on, why is Azu acting funny?" Firo asked, her feather's standing on end.

"Peace, Filolial Princess. I am no enemy of ours or your Queen's, and Azu is fine. I would never bring harm to her." Tyr said calmly.

"Pure-Blooded Dragons never really die. Instead, when their body is destroyed, their souls retreat into their Dragon Core Fragments, which then merges into the closest nearby Dragonkin. After some time, the Dragonkin's body transforms into a new Pure-Blooded Dragon and the Dragon's mind and the Host's mind merge together." Sadeena explained for them.

"Yes. That is normally the case." Tyr said with a nod. "However, it was never supposed to happen with a Demihuman born with dragon's blood. While Azu has merged with my core, she will not turn into a Pure-Blooded Dragon, nor will she ever merge with my consciousness. For now I am still a part of her, but my mind will eventually fade away."

"If that is the case. Then why did you merge your core with Azu?" Atla asked, the rock in her hands having long since crumbled into dust as she lost her concentration and just blew it up.

"Because she would have died if I didn't." The dragon said with a slow sigh. "I would rather not recount the story. Instead, since we have the time, how about I provide some help."

"What kind of help?" Shirou asked Tyr.

"The Kitsune girl. I granted her my blessing because I sensed she was talented in the use of my kind's style of magic. While Azu sleeps, I would like to teach it too her." Tyr said, looking to Rita.

"I noticed that as well." Sadeena said with a nod.

"So tell me, Kitsune, do you wish to learn?" Tyr asked.

"I… I will give it my best try." Rita said earnestly.

"Then let us begin."

* * *

 **Since people has started saying that Sadeena is the bridge too far, I'm just going to say it here. She following Shirou too Naofumi. She isn't joining Shirou's party.**

* * *

 **It was weird that everyone thought that I only meant the philosophy of being a hero (which is more an ethics, but I guess that is a branch of philosophy), when what I really meant was ACTUAL philosophy, which acts as the building blocks of magecraft.**

* * *

 **Apparently** **my read on Motoyasu was a little off.**

 **I thought that while he was trying to collect every woman he had come across, that he actually never had sex with any of them. My evidence being Motoyasu's denial when allegations of rape were placed against him, the fact that he was up every night farming rather than having sex, and Naofumi's own suspicions about his behavior, saying that he acted more like an inexperienced nerd when talking about women.**

 **"StayBlessed" pointed out to me that this was actually incorrect and that there is references to Motoyasu experiencing Malty's skills in bed.**

 **I'm not going to go back to change it though, since it really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. Just letting everyone know that it is different than canon.**

* * *

 **Do people want me to use Peerless Transformation or Hengen Musou? I can change if people prefer the japanese, but I figure just leave it as something that everyone can read. (especially me.) That said, Peerless Transformation is a bit of a mouthful.**

 **Either way, it is the Shieldverse canon for mystic energy channels within the body, and acts in a way very similar to Magic Circuits, only no one uses it for spells.**

 **There being a noticeable difference between the Heroes and the local's channels that prevents the Heroes from properly using the skill is also canon. (though that will be discussed later.)**


	31. Chapter 31

Shirou took in a deep breath, opened up his magic circuits in his hand as wide as they would go and simply thrust his Od out of his hand, blasting it into the giant crab monster before him. The monster shuddered, but it didn't fall.

Annoyed, Shirou drew Jian and slashed the creature in half.

"Just like I thought, Atla's circuits are much wider than mine are. I can't preform the technique the same way she does." Shirou mumbled to himself, shaking his hand and trying to ignore the thubbing in his circuits.

He had noticed before that Atla's magic circuits were shaped differently than his, or anyone he had even seen before, and after some inspection of Rita and Fohl's dormant circuits, he found that the same held true for them. It seemed as though the circuits of the people in this world are much more open to expelling large amounts of energy at once, as well as accepting an inflow of mana.

It made sense that in a world were mana wasn't so dangerous to absorb that magic circuits would have evolved in such a way to be more suited for absorbing and using it.

While the attack was basically just reinforcing the targets body in such a way as to damage it from the inside, Shirou couldn't expel Od at the same rate as Atla could, so the passive resistance of a living body was more than enough to just shrug his Od off before it had a chance to accumulate to the point of causing serious damage. In order to succeed, he would need to be able to expel Od at a rate rivaling Saber's Prana Bursts. Something his circuits just won't built for.

If he wanted his attack to have the same effect, he would need to use an external formulacraft spell, like Rin's overcharged 'Gandr' curse, or a medium. Either of them could act as a capacitor for building up the Od to be released all at once. Problem was, he sucked at creating runes on the fly like that, and he couldn't use a medium without breaking the Legendary Holy Weapon Rules against only using Jian.

[A Hero doesn't need such a technique. A Legendary Sword's power will exceed all defenses.]

"I'm glad for your confidence, but I'll like to have an ace up my sleeve. Just in case we have to go up against another abomination like that one griffin. Because let's be honest, it's going to happen." Shirou said to the sword, as he let her consume the remains of the crab monster. "I agree that in the long run, no amount of defense will be able to stop you, but in the short run, we need a way to get around that defensive bullshit."

If a literal God, like Fitoria, believed that reinforcements were needed to deal with what was coming, Shirou knew better than to take it lightly. Granted, he doubted anything at the God level would be hampered by this technique, but you never know. It could have an effect, or lead to even greater avenues of attack. After all, Gradient Air was supposed to be a worthless branch of Magecraft.

[Weapon forms to bypass defense most likely exist. Just find them.]

"That might be good advice, if I even knew what to look for." Shirou said with a small shake of the head. "Considering almost every material in the world provides a new form, searching for one of a handful with nothing to go by is a fools errand. After all, I got the [Air Thrust Sword] skill from absorbing a piece of rope. I still don't understand how that worked."

[Craft a weapon?]

"…You know, that might work." Shirou said thoughtfully. If he created a weapon capable of storing and releasing a small burst of magical energy capable of entering the body of its target, then he could copy the weapon with Jian. There were a few conceptual weapons that contained such properties, but they were all to advanced to be wielded at a reasonable level. Same went for Noble Phantasms that bypass defenses and true immortality. But with a few simple runes engraved onto a sword, and he might be able to produce something of use. The Healing Magic knives that Rin had made Shirou copy could inject magic into people. He just needed to rearrange a few bits to make it reusable and damaging. "I'll start working on a design tonight."

Shirou could feel Jian's cheer at being told that he was going to try to make more use of her, rather than trying to learn to attack with Od directly. She had been in a good mood ever since the fight with Motoyasu. Which was nice for a change, since she had started sulking a little after Shirou gave Naofumi some of his traced weapons. It seemed that she didn't like the idea of Shirou feeding one of the other Legendary Weapons.

[A Legendary Weapon was not sulking! A Hero should only concern himself with his own Legendary Weapon! Heroes are supposed to get stronger on their own!]

"Sorry, sorry." Shirou said, patting the weapon's pummel. After finding out the trick with absorbing the monster parts over and over again, Shirou had started feeding Jian different swords that had the same base. After letting her copy a hundred different iron machetes, he was able to master the iron machete weapon form without having ever used it in a fight. Another method of boosting his power even further.

"Sensei, the crabs have been dealt with and the rest of the caravan is just waiting for their Filolials to be rehitched before we continue." Rita reported.

"Alright, we'll get moving once they are back in order. We've got a schedule to keep." Shirou said with a nod.

Three days left until the Wave hit, and they were currently just one more full day's travel away from reaching the Demihuman friendly settlement where the Queen's man would be waiting for them. That gave Shirou some wiggle room for dealing with anything back in the Capital.

Shirou turned back towards the caravan to be met with the sight of hundreds of Royal Filolials, all eating the slain monsters. …It was something to behold.

It seemed that just being associated with the Sword Hero was enough to cause the birds to change into Royal Filolials, even if Shirou neither trained them nor hatched their eggs. Though it seemed as though Firo's position as the Crowned Princess allowed her to control their growth somewhat. Which she used to limit their hunger, so that they didn't start eating more than normal Filolials. Shirou suspected this was because Firo didn't want to share. Still, better to only have to feed them 20 pounds of food each per day, rather than 1000. The entire flock only ate about as much in a day as Fitoria did in a single meal.

The good news was that the birds were also completely loyal to Firo, who was proud of her position as leader of the flock and took full command of her minions. And with the boosted power from the Filolial series and the Beast Tamer series, they were all pretty beefy. Any monsters that got in the caravans way were very swiftly dealt with, often before Shirou's party or the gladiators even realized what was going on. An entire nest of Giant Mud Crabs was wiped out in less than three minutes, once the birds got free of their harnesses.

Shirou was more than willing to admit that an army of five hundred of the massive, if strangely cute, birds was rather useful, even if none of them was even a quarter as strong as Firo was. Still, he planned on leaving them behind with the freed gladiators once they reached their destination. Firo was not happy about it, but she eventually accepted that having a fair sized army following them everywhere they went wasn't an option.

Besides, Firo had been annoyed about how slow they were compared to herself, as she wasn't allowed to move at her full speeds because she had to wait for the others.

Shirou didn't want to be around when all of them started to figure out their 'Angel forms' and started to transform in the middle of town. As cruel as it was to push that problem onto someone else, he didn't want to deal with it. He'd have to discuss a way to provide clothes for them with the mayor. He'd heard that there were clothes that could transform with the wearer, normally made for certain kinds of shapeshifting Demihumans. There were even those in the caravan who know how to make such things, if they had the right equipment. They would need to get enough of them to clothe all of the Filolials, but it was possible.

Luckily, money was no object. Shirou already planned on leaving behind twenty thousand gold to help the town with any food or resource problems they might have while dealing with the sudden population boom. The fact that such an expense could be consider a drop in the bucket for Shirou was comforting.

Rin might be crazy, but she was right about one thing. Sometimes, you just have to throw money at the problem. And after absorbing the colosseum's vault and unlocking the [Treasury Sword], Shirou was capable of converting any object in Jian's item storage into money. So along with the 1 million gold that had been inside of the vault, he also liquified all the other random items that he had taken from them for an extra, relatively small, 4 thousand gold. Enough money to pay for a mansion.

This meant he didn't have to deal with the markets of this world, or all the questions of where those ten tons of monster pelts suddenly appeared from, so he could suddenly make thousands of gold out of nowhere if need be.

He could afford to throw money at the town. And with so many high-level former gladiators and Royal Filolials to defend them, and enough money to sustain their population for a good half a year, Shirou wouldn't need to worry about constantly checking in on the bunch in order to make sure they were alright.

"Shirou-sama!" Atla shouted, running up to Shirou as he approached their carriage, and grabbing onto his waist. Shirou felt his clothes getting soaked with the blood that was dripping from Atla's hands, which had also been sprayed all over her front. She smiled up at him with the red liquid splattered all over her face, as if it didn't bother her. It should have been rather unnerving, but instead it just reminded Shirou of Illya. "I killed one of the crabs by myself, see." She said, pointing towards the corpse.

The shell was shattered, and the insides had burst outwards, making a rather large mess.

After learning how to analyze a body and the target structural weaknesses with more process Od control, Atla's extremely painful skill turned deadly. Now, even though she was still low level, there were few targets in the world that she couldn't kill, if she could get close enough to them. She was quickly becoming the ultimate Tank-Killing Joker. The only thing she lacked now was the finesse required to survive in close quarters with a skilled opponent.

Though the mess it made when she 'broke' a monster's squishy parts was rather troublesome.

"Good work." Shirou said, patting the girl's head. "But we are going to have to find a way for you to kill them without getting yourself covered in blood."

"Ah… I guess your right." Atla said holding up her arms and pretending to look down at herself with her blind eyes. "I should change."

"Atla, don't!" Shirou shouted, but there wasn't anything he could do. She started pulling off her clothes right there, leaving him to quickly trace a blanket to cover her with.

He really wished she would stop doing things like that.

* * *

"A bow and arrow?" Atla said with a tilt of her head as Shirou handed her the weapons.

"It's something to try. I used to use a bow a lot before I was summoned as a means of making use of the skills I have been teaching you." Shirou said as he let Jian transform into one of her hybrid bow/sword forms. "Just watch."

"What kind of wield stuff are you teaching my sister this time." Fohl grumbled. "Well, at least with a bow and arrow she will stay off the front line."

Shirou then traced and arrow and notched it, charging it up until it was on the edge of breaking and then shooting it off towards a distant boulder. As the arrow came in contact with the boulder, the magical energy inside of the tip destabilized and erupted, which was blasted the large rock into fragments.

"It's a little difficult to gain a balance of power right in the arrows, but I think you can learn how." Shirou said. "Back before I became the Sword Hero, this was one of my most devastating means of attack. With the right arrow, I could destroy an entire castle in a single shot."

"Shirou-sama, your hand!" Atla shouted, grabbing onto the hand which had been holding the arrow. Some of the skin had been seared off of the fingers that had been holding the arrow.

"Ah, don't worry about it. This isn't part of using the skill. A Legendary Hero isn't allowed to use anything other than their Holy Weapon. This is my punishment for using that arrow." Shirou said with a small shrug. "Don't worry about it, since the bow was still technically Jian and the arrow wasn't pointed at anything, the punishment was light. This will be fully healed in a minute or two of the passive healing that Jian provides me."

Atla took his hand and before he understood what she was think, she brought it up to her mouth and started to lick the wound.

"A..Atla, stop that!" Fohl begged his sister, running up behind her and wrestling her away from Shiou.

"Onii-sama, let go." Atla said, struggling to get free.

"Never! I must protect my sister's purity!" Fohl shouted, using his higher level to overpower the girl. That is, until she used her reinforcement magic to overpower him and turn the tables. Shirou could only sigh, though there was some nostalgia in it.

It really was like those early days with Illya all over again.

* * *

Once Shirou had gotten Atla practicing on a target, he turned his attention towards Fohl. "So, what kind of combat training do you want?" Shirou asked as Fohl sulked in front of him.

"I don't need your training. I'm a Hakuko, I'm the strongest by default." Fohl said. "Our kind start with higher base stats, and we level more quickly and have higher max levels. So its only natural that we are the strongest."

Pure arrogance. Shirou almost summoned up Tora-Shinai to beat the stupid out of the boy. Unfortunately, that wouldn't prove anything to him, as Shirou was both a higher level, a Legendary Hero, and an other-worlder, making him simple different than the normal rules. But then a better plan came to him.

"…I see. But what about your sister? Isn't she also a Hakuko." Shirou said thoughtfully. "Fohl, have you noticed that since you've joined my party, you've been leveling more quickly and that your stats boosts from leveling are higher."

Fohl paused but then nodded.

"Because of the influence of the Holy Sword, both you and your sister are gaining these kinds of benefits. For every 18 levels you gain under its influence, you gain stats about equal to 30 levels outside of its influence. Right now, your level advantage makes you stronger than her in raw stats, but once the level difference between you two becomes level than 12, she is going to surprise you." Shirou said with a shrug.

"I'm going to be stronger than Onii-sama?" Atla said, earning a look of horror out of her brother.

"Well, with reinforcement magecraft, you are actually already stronger than he is. Its more like the difference of power between the two of you will become even greater." Shirou commented off handedly. "Between the 'Peerless Tranformation', her own natural instincts for combat and my combat training, she is going to become extremely strong. How are you planning on protecting her when she is so much stronger than you?"

Fohl was starting to twitch as he realized that his little sister would soon completely outclass him on the battlefield.

"If you don't want to train with Shirou-kun, I have a suggestion." Sadeena said, coming up from where she was overseeing Rita's practice with the basic 'Water Seal' spell that was acting as the entry level spell for her Dragon Magic training. "How about I teach Fohl the Beast Transformation. I can tell he has the potential for it. It's a pretty sizable all stats up."

"Huh, really!?" Fohl said, latching onto the idea as it was still part of his bloodline rather than technique training. Shirou didn't approve, but it was better than having him idol and messing with Atla's focus the way he had been.

Shirou understood, Fohl had killed people, and it had scarred him. The only thing he had to justify his actions, and his own existence, was his little sister, making him completely dependent upon her needing him. While his sister's recovery was something he had always dreamed off, it had also swept his whole reason for living out from under his feet. Especially with her rapidly becoming stronger.

"Sure. Though it is a useful skill, not all Demihumans can learn it, so while Fohl has the talent, his sister wouldn't find it so easy, if she is even capable at all. That should even things up a little bit." Sadeena said, much to Fohl's relief. They moved off to the side and started Fohl's training… wait, where did that barrel of sake come from?

"Shirou-sama?" Atla called out, getting back his attention. She was looking off into the distance with her bow lowered. "I sense a Legendary Holy Weapon."

"What? Don't tell me that pervert and evil women are following us." Rita said, as she lost her focus and the ball of water she had been suspending fell to the ground.

"I don't think so. It feels different from the spear's aura." Atla said with a shake of the head.

"So, more uninvited guests." Shirou said with a sigh. "Let's go greet them before they nearly start another riot."

* * *

In Emerald Online, quests were key.

While it was true that game didn't grant any experience for the completion of quest, the money, items and unique enemy encounters that the quests provided were often more important than mere experience bonus. After all, in Emerald Online, you couldn't properly upgrade your equipment without the right amount of accumulated wealth and rare items, and the same held true with the Legendary Holy Weapons.

Besides, while Issei had been a paranoid nutter, saying that no one could be trusted, that didn't mean that there wasn't corrupt and wicked people in the world. People who believed themselves to be too big and powerful to fail. He thought that they could use their status, power, and wealth to do whatever they wanted and not care who they hurt in the process.

Well, Itsuki would teach them that there is no one above justice.

That is why he would never ignore any sidequest flags he came across. So when a panicked farmer ran into town to report a large number of scary looking people camped as short ways away from the town, looking like a possible invading army, he knew that this was a job for the Legendary Hero Bow.

Of course, he would first need to determine where exactly this fiendish group was planning to strike, so that he could be there first. That way, he could gather up the people and lead them in defense of Justice.

To that end, he and his five bodyguards… or six bodyguards started to sneak up on the camp.

Mald had been the first to notice the fact that the group mostly contained Demihumans, suggesting that they were a group from the nation of Siltvelt who had unjustly attacked Melromarc several times in the past in an attempt to enslave humanity.

Undoubtedly a villainous group. The only question was, where would their raid occur?

"Itsuki-sama, would it not be best to smite these lawless vagabonds right now, before they have the chance to reach friendly settlements?" Mald suggested, getting nods of agreement from several of the others.

True, a strike before they reached any civilians was valid strategy… however, Itsuki wanted an audience. Someone who could see the justice being performed and be inspired by it, so that word could spread, and the villains of this world would be struck with fear.

However, before he could explain his noble purpose to the man, someone else interrupted them. "'Smite the lawless vagabonds'? That's a little harsh. What have we ever done to you?"

With wide eyes, Itsuki spun around to see a man with long white hair and dressed in black body armor with a reddish cloth on his arms. The man had an angry, or perhaps just annoyed look on his face. There was a young demihuman girl by his side, holding a bow of her own with a look of confusion, her eyes closed, giving the impression she was blind.

Realizing they had been spotted, Itsuki pulled up the Legendary Holy Bow and willed an arrow into existence, firing straight for the man. If he could take the man down and restrain the girl before the alarm was raised, he could still recover from this and complete his mission.

He was understandably surprise when the white-haired man merely batted the arrow out of the air with his empty hand. "…Did you just shot us unprovoked? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He's after Itsuki-sama! Everyone, to the defense of our hero!" Mald shouted, getting to his feet and drawing his sword before charging at the intruder with his sword raised.

"How about we all just calm down!?" The man shouted, probably trying to draw the attention of his support in the nearby camp. This wasn't good, they had to end this quickly before the entire operation was blown.

Mald continued forward with his sword raised above his head, and the others were shortly behind him, until the small child made her move. She quickly dashed in front of Mald and punched him square in the stomach, causing the man to let out a horrible gasp before falling to the ground and starting to twitch.

"No one attacks Shirou-sama." The girl said coldly, and she glared down at the man with her closed eyes.

"Mald, no!" Itsuki shouted. "My friend, you will be avenged!"

"He isn't dead, you can see him moving." The white haired man said, though Itsuki ignored his attempts to distract him. The small demihuman child was already taking down a second of the Bow Hero's bodyguards. Itsuki had to do something about her. It was tactical sense for a Ranged Carry like him to remove the weaker target from the field so that he could more easily kite the remaining enemy.

He pulled his arrow back, aiming for the girl's leg and activated [Crippling Shot]. The arrow was engulfed in his green light from his SP as he let it fly towards the girl.

Itsuki froze when the arrow was deflected by a drawn blade and a horrible aura washed over all of them. "You have one chance to drop your weapons before I take every last one of you down." The white-haired villain said, his voice promising death.

"F…[Falcon Shot]!" Itsuki shouted, as he poured his SP into his next attack at what had to be the enemy commander. His panic turned to horror as the man grabbed the arrow midflight with his barehand.

"That's it. We can sort this out once you all wake up." The man said before breaking Itsuki's arrow in two.

* * *

 **I'm sticking with Peerless Transformation because most people don't seem to care and it is easier to spell and read than having to keep looking up the Japanese thing. As a side note, Shirou doesn't know the true power of the style, as for why it is called a 'Transformation'.**

 **Sadeena isn't going to be in Shirou's party. She's just tagging along until they run into Naofumi and Raphtilia again.**

* * *

 **Since Naofumi could grab Itsuki's arrow out of the air while he was multiple levels below the Bow Hero, I'm pretty sure that Shirou could do the same with ease.**

* * *

 **Between Motoyasu and Itsuki, Motoyasu would be the guy who is easier for Shirou to get along with. Yes he is a brainwashed tool who thinks he is in a ero game, but Itsuki is convinced that he is fantasy Batman. For those of you who have not already realized it, he is not nearly smart enough to be Batman.**

 **Motoyasu would also never do anything that would risk harming an innocent person, where Itsuki is more shot first think later.**

 **Itsuki is the parody of everything WRONG with the idea of an Ally of Justice, with zero self-awareness. Archer would want to kill him simply out of principle.**

* * *

 **Might be taking a short break to recharge. Writing Itsuki is going to be spiritually draining. At least Malty knows she's an evil bitch.**


	32. Chapter 32

Two of the seven had already been unconscious by the time Shirou lost his cool.

He didn't so much mind being attacked without provocation, that he could just let slide. But that the little shit had aimed a shot that could cripple someone for life against Atla, a ten-year-old child. That he would not let slide.

It hadn't taken long for him to knock out Itsuki and his party. Itsuki had been level 44 with most of his party members being the flat 40 which showed that they were in need of Class Ups. They didn't have the defense necessary to ignore Shirou's attacks and they were a thousand years too soon to match him a test of skill.

He gained a little satisfaction, reading the history of Itsuki's armor and knowing that this was to be the first real hit against him. Jian was certainly pleased, though that might have had something to do with being in the Tora-Shinai form. Perhaps letting her copy such a weapon was not the smartest of moves.

Still, its [Punishing Strike], which caused more pain and would not be lethal, was proving useful. Itsuki was out cold after just one hit to the head.

Shirou was disappointed. Motoyasu tanked ten such hits and had kept getting up for more. The difference between Lancers and Archers? Or maybe Motoyasu was just more used to actually being attacked, rather than letting his party members act as distractions.

However, after taking out the majority of the Bow Hero's party, Shirou was left with a bit of a problem.

"S…Stay away from Itsuki-sama!" Said a young girl, only around fourteen years old, with long green hair in twin braids. She stood between Shirou and the downed Itsuki, holding a trash short sword in front of herself in trembling hands. She looked as though she was going to faint from fright, but she still stood in defense.

Rishia Ivyred, according to the almost nonexistent history of the weapon.

She was a significantly lower level than the others, being only level 8, and her equipment was terrible, not even the most basic of armor. She had been last into the action, because as she had attempted to get to her feet, her overladen backpack had caused her to topple over. By the time she had managed to get it off, the rest of her party was already down for the count.

She had to understand that it there was nothing she could do, with her being such a lower level than the others, but she still stood there in front of Shirou with absolutely terrified eyes… It kind of made him feel like the bad guy.

"Should I tie her up too?" Atla asked, as she had already been in the process of tying up the other KOed 'Adventurers'. The poor girl gave a 'Hiieee!' of terror at Atla's question.

"No, its fine." Shirou said with a sigh before walking up to the girl, carefully plucking the weapon from her hand and patting her head. "You don't need to worry. We aren't planning on hurting your friends. I just can't have them attacking everyone. Once they wake up and we can have a talk, I'll let them go. I promise."

Shirou said calmly, using the same hypnosis he used on Fohl in order to ease the girl's fear before she gave herself a heart attack. "…R…Really?" She said, looking up at Shirou with teary eyes.

"Yes, really." Shirou said, trying to give his best smile. "Now how about you come back to the camp with us and tell us why you all were here. If we can get everyone's stories straight, then no one has to get hurt? We don't have much in the way of variety, but we have some dried meats and basic tea, if you'd like some. Does that sound good?"

"Ye…Yes please." Rishia said, wiping away her tears.

Shirou and Atla finished binding the rest of the attackers before returning to camp with Rishia in tow.

Lancers and Archers, why did they always have to be so much trouble.

* * *

"Wow, this tea is really good." Rishia said with cheer. After coming into camp and seeing the women and children, she had quickly realized that the information they had been given was wrong.

Also, the white-haired man from before had been Shirou, the recently famed leader of the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird. Rishia even got to meet the Holy Bird herself!

"I'm glad you like it." Shirou said kindly as he took a seat across from her at a small campfire. "I hope you will help us clear up this misunderstanding as soon as the Bow Hero and the rest of his companions wake up."

"Oh, yes. I'm sure Itsuki-sama will understand as soon as everything is explained to him." Rishia said quickly, nodding her head.

Shirou and his band were escorting a group of political refugees, former slaves and gladiators, into a section of the Seaetto territory. He had even shown her a royal decree from the Queen granting permission and protection to the group, so there was no problem at all.

"Thank you for your help. After what happened with the Spear Hero, I had hoped to avoid any misunderstanding by reaching the Bow Hero before he entered our camp, but it seemed that was the wrong call." Shirou said.

"You've met the Spear Hero?" Rishia asked. She had only ever met Itsuki-sama, and only recently, so she had no idea what the other heroes were like.

"The Spear Hero came looking to recruit us, walked straight into our camp, and nearly started a riot." Shirou said with a shake of the head. "He isn't a bad person per say, but he has no common sense, and doesn't think with the right head."

The Spear Hero had more than one head?

"So, what can you tell me about the Bow Hero? I'd rather know a little about him, make sure I don't somehow trigger him again." Shirou asked Rishia.

"Oh… I actually haven't been with Itsuki-sama very long. I kind of joined him after he saved me." Rishia said, blushing a bit from the confession. "You see, I had been taken as a slave when raiders destroying my parent's lands had pushed us into debt. It was Itsuki who had proved that the raiders were from the neighboring land which had forced me into slavery. I had completely given up hope when he had shown up… It had only felt natural to dedicate my life to him, even if I not of much use. All I've been able to do is carry the bags around."

Shirou frowned a bit at her confession. Maybe he was disappointed about the lack of insight she could give.

"Sorry." Rishia said, bowing her head.

"Don't be. And have more confidence in yourself. Everyone starts out small." Shirou said, pushing a smile onto his face. "I'm actually impressed that you are able to carry around such a heavy pack. You're pretty strong for your age and level."

"Ah… No, I'm not strong at all." Rishia said weakly, her head slouching. "With how low my strength stat is, I wouldn't be able to lift that pack at all without the 'Job' that Itsuki gave me."

"'Job'? What's that?" Shirou asked, catching on to the key word.

"Oh, A Job is something that the Legendary Heroes can give their companions to make them stronger. I was given the Support Job, which at its 10th level allows me to carry 100 more pounds than I would normally be able to. Though it doesn't help me with wielding weapons." Rishia explained.

"Interesting." Shirou said scratching his chin. "Would you mind telling me more about how it works? I'm something of a weapon maker myself, so naturally I'm interested in the Legendary Holy Weapons. Ah, though I know better than to try to touch one without the hero's permission."

"Well, Itsuki hasn't really talked much about it with us, but I don't think he'd mind if I told you what I know. Maybe you can even help." Rishia said happily.

"Well, if I can, I'll try." Shirou replied with a friendly smile. Even though he had been scary before, Rishia liked this man. He was really kind, helping the newly freed slaves and showing mercy to Itsuki, even after they had attacked him. He was even kind to her.

People were so rarely kind to Rishia. Even after joining Itsuki's party, she didn't mesh well with the older members and always seemed to be doing something wrong. She wanted to be more helpful, but nothing she did turned out right and she always ended up in a panic. She hated the way Itsuki looked at her whenever she ended up in tears. It made her feel worthless.

She probably was worthless.

"Master! Master!" The Holy Bird, Firo poked her head into the tent and looked around until she spotted Shirou. "Master, Firo is hungry. Give Firo meat, Gaooo~!" She said, raising up her hands as if they were claws.

Rishia nearly gave a squeal of delight. "Oh, what a cute costume."

Firo was wearing the cutest lion themed costume that Rishia had even seen. It looked so soft and fluffy.

Firo blinked before putting her hands on her said and puffing out her chest. "Like it? Master gave it to Firo." She said happily. "Azu and Atla also have their own, though with different colors. We wear them as our pajamas."

"That's so sweet. I wish I had one." Rishia said with a smile.

"Well, if you really want one, all you have to do is ask." Shirou said with a chuckle. He lifted up a hand and placed it on Firo's head before holding a second one out to his side. "Trace. On." He mumbled and Rishia gasped as an outfit identical to Firo's appeared in the man's free hand. "Here you go. Don't worry about size differences. They have magic in them that makes them change sizes to fit the wear." He said as he held it out to Rishia. But before the girl could take it, Firo interrupted.

"No Master, that one is no good!" Firo said pushing Shirou away before he could hand it off. "Yellow is Firo's color. Scaredy Cat-chan's should be green."

"S…Scaredy Cat?" Rishia mumbled, tearing up a bit at the unfortunate nickname.

"Ah. Sorry. I'll fix it right away." Shirou said before closing his eyes. "Alteration." He mumbled under his breath. The yellow of the outfit turned to a green that was the same shade as Rishia's hair. "Here you go."

"Wow, how did you do that?" Rishia asked, unable to contain her amazement.

"I do weapons best, but there are a few other things that I can make." Shirou said with a smile. "I hope you like it."

"I do." Rishia said, nodding her head.

Firo then dragged her off to get changed into it while Shirou just smiled and shook his head.

* * *

 **[Job Assignment]**

[A Hero can equip themselves and their party members with 'Jobs' that offer special bonuses. These Jobs can be upgraded, up to once a day each, and grant more stats as they level, with extra perks gained every 10 levels. Jobs are unlocked and upgraded by consuming monster body parts.]

It was an interesting mechanic. The logical equivalent of a hunter dressing himself in the skin of the animals that he hunted. Though it was strange how all jobs took the same fuel. Shirou doubted that a Priestess should be dressed in wild boar skins. Also, it didn't seem that the Jobs recognized gender roles.

Shirou considered assigning the Priestess, Huntress or Princess Jobs to Fohl as a joke and tell him that they were auto assigned, but as the boy knew no magic nor did he need the accuracy, it would have been a waste.

The stat ups seemed to be less relevant when choosing jobs than what perks were received. According to Rishia, the Mage job granted a decreased cost when shortening a spell's chant or repeating the same spell, while the Priestess Job would allow for the user to overcharge the spell for increased effect. Two different avenues for magic that could have incredible tactical implications.

Rishia's Support Job already had two perk unlocks, giving her increased carrying capacity and an 'item scavenger' ability to let her more easily spot the stones that Itsuki needed to reinforce his weapons.

As the lower levels seemed cheap to get, Shirou wasn't stingy with his purchases, as each upgrade would take a single day. He bought the level 1 versions of a hundred different combat related Jobs and a dozen support Jobs, just with the number of extra bits lying about from the various dog monsters he had killed in the last week along, and he still had more leftover. Though it looked like higher-level versions were going to be more pricy, as level 2 cost 20% more than level 1. Depending on whether the growth in cost was linear or exponential, he might have to focus on just a few of them.

For now, he just took a few Jobs that felt right and assigned them to his main party. Though Jian chose Shirou's own Job and refused to let him change it, going so far as to shock him when he tried.

Shirou: Lv 64 – Job: Chef

Firo: Lv 57 – Job: Beastmaster

Rita: Lv 55 – Job: Freelancer

Azu: Lv 55 – Job: Priestess

Atla: Lv 5 – Job: Huntress

Fohl: Lv 32 – Job: Brawler

He could only hope that Jian would get tired of the tease around the time that Jobs actually started to matter. Something to assist with his cast speeds would be nice, though he wouldn't say no to SP regen or a percent strength up.

When he was done, Shirou couldn't help but go through a mental check list. 'Rider, Lancer, Caster, Archer, and Berserker. I still need a Saber and an Assassin. Wonder if I can convince Yami to fill the Assassin slot. Though she is a little too noticeable to be a proper Assassin.'

Shirou allowed himself a cheeky smile before his thoughts returned to the Bow Hero.

To say that Itsuki left a bad first impression was a laughable understatement. But Rishia managed to win the boy some points back. If only some. Shirou didn't like anyone who committed vigilante justice with zero self-awareness, believing that theirs was the only justice. It was a recipe for disaster. And if he could walk up to Shirou's group, filled as it was with woman and children, with twenty people squeezed together in most of the wagons and with not a single scrap of armor anywhere to be seen and believe it was an invading army, he didn't have the best observational skills.

Itsuki's level had been lower than Motoyasu, and his archery form was terrible, costing him in power and draw speed. Strangely though, the boy's accuracy was spot on, so either the bow was compensating, or he had prior experience with them. But if he had so much prior experience, why was his form so bad? Superb accuracy aside, if there was a fight between Motoyasu and Itsuki, Shirou was pretty sure that the Spear Hero would come out on top. Hell, last Shirou saw of the Shield Hero, Naofumi would have been able to pummel the guy into the ground, if Itsuki ever got within arm's reach of him.

Not that any one on one fight with the Shield Hero would ever be completely fair, what with Defense being as bullshit as many of Shirou's conceptual weapons.

From a quick scan of his weapon, he didn't seem to be using anything to empower the individual weapon forms besides the Reinforcement feature, converting gemstones or money into boosts to his weapons base damage. Or at least, Shirou didn't see any evidence of it on the Weapon Form he was using. And considering his attack power, Itsuki probably didn't know about Naofumi's tricks to master a large number of weapons either.

Out of the other three heroes, he was the one best suited to wielding his weapon, but paradoxically, he was by far the weakest.

Then there was his companions. Because of the 'Job' system, they were stronger than normal, but not that much stronger. Not yet at least. Perhaps the power of the higher level Jobs scaled in such a way to make them make a difference, since none of the Jobs could possibly be more than level 26, but none of it could compare to the stat boosts that Shirou's kids had.

Shirou could say for certain that he didn't have the Companion's Series weapons. Which made sense, since he was surrounded by liars and spies. Still, it was a shame that he didn't even form a bond with Rishia. Shirou couldn't understand why. The girl was so earnestly loyal to him, she was even in love with him, since he had saved her from a horrible fate. Her obsession was so obvious that even Shirou could see it. Not quite Atla's levels, but still high. And yet they hadn't formed a bond worthy of the Companion Series.

Hell, even Shirou and Fohl had enough of a mutual understanding between them for Fohl to receive the full benefit of the Companion Series.

The problem must have been with Itsuki himself.

Well, maybe after she shared with him the info Shirou had gained from the 'Spear Hero' on how to best use the Legendary Weapons, Rishia could make a better connection with him. Without the Companion Series, sooner or later, a Heroes allies would be about as much use as a Master in the middle of a fight between two Servants. More of a big glowing weak spot than actual help.

This wasn't so much a problem at the moment, as both the Spear Hero and the Bow Hero's allies would have to go eventually anyways, being that they are both horrible in combat and criminal spies, but Rishia wasn't a Guild or Church spy, she was just a girl who fell in love with the young man who saved her. Having her strong enough to survive the battlefield would be nice. If she kept throwing herself in front of Itsuki every time the man bit off more than he could chew, then she wouldn't live long.

Shirou might have been merciful, but most would have killed the lot of them for what they did.

Shirou glanced over to where Rishia was playing with the other children, a smile on her face as the girls pretended to be lions and teamed up on poor Fohl. She was such a nice girl, bright and observant, but she was scarred by horrible people and left with a low self-esteem.

Honestly, what was Itsuki thinking, bring a girl like her along with him? She was too young and unstable to be dragged off to the Waves. Having seen one himself, Shirou could say that they weren't for the faint of heart.

Then again, she probably would have just tried to follow him on her own if he had tried to leave her behind. He might have even tried to leave her behind, only for her to follow him. Shirou himself didn't exactly have room to judge at this point, considering his own party.

Firo had been meant to be just a normal animal but had become an innocent child that he was now responsible for. Rita had needed the stability of power and training in her life to help her recover from the hell she had seen. Azu would have been killed by Fitoria, for the greater good, if the God hadn't chosen to entrust her to Shirou instead. Atla had inherited the unfortunate Fate of her forefathers, and to try to run from Fate, believing that would fix it, was a recipe for disaster. And Fohl couldn't part with his sister or else he would probably have an existential crisis.

All of them were just kids. And with the exception of Firo, all of them had their own horrible emotional scars. They were following Shirou because he was the only pillar of strength they had, and because they had no other real option available to them.

And it wasn't just his kids. There was also Naofumi, Raphtalia, Zeff, and the rest of the freed slaves. All of them, broken souls that latched onto and deified the first people to show them the slightest scrap of hope.

This world was horrible. Not the monsters, or the Waves of Calamity, but its society. It was like a breeding ground for Emiyas. It stripped the people of everything they had until they were so desperate for a reason to keep going that they would march into hell with a smile, just for a simple gesture of kindness.

Shirou wanted to help them. He wanted to save them. But perhaps they would all just be better off de…

"NO!" Shirou growled, punching himself in head.

'You think that you can just give a life meaning? What is the point, when that meaning is a lie? Face it, simply letting them die would be a kindness.'

"You're wrong." Shirou said, clenching his eyes shut as he sought to throw off the sudden onslaught of doubts.

"Shirou-sama." "Shirou-sama?" "Hey, what's wrong with you?" "Is Master alright?" "Hieee?"

Shirou opened his eyes to find the four girls in their lion outfits, plus Fohl, were all staring at him. "Ah… sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you all." Shirou said, forcing on a sheepish smile.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Atla asked.

"I'll be fine. Sometimes you just have to beat the stupidity out of yourself." Shirou said with a nod.

"Curse?" Azu said shortly, surprising Shirou, as well as most of the others.

"Ah, so you knew. Did Tyr tell you about it?" Shirou asked the girl, who nodded.

"Fitoria told Firo about it too." Firo admitted, her wings drooping. "It's the thing that makes Master feel down sometimes, isn't it?"

Shirou hadn't realized that Firo had remained in contact with Fitoria, but he supposed it made sense. The God seemed to have high hopes for the Heroes, so she would probably wish to remain informed.

Shirou walked over to the girl and patted her head. "You don't need to worry. I'm too stubborn for something like a little curse to bring me down. Though, if you notice me slipping a bit, a wakeup call might be nice."

"Will do! Firo will make that dark stuff go far away from Master!" The girl chirped before grabbing onto Shirou's leg. "Come on dark stuff. Go away. Go away."

Shirou smiled at the girl's childish attempts to hug away a curse, only to actually feel it working. The untamed lock of hair on her head was giving off a slight shine as she held onto him. The condescending voice in the back of his head faded into silence, leaving Shirou's heart feeling much lighter again.

Was this more of Firo's unique Fironess, or had Fitoria decided to get involved?

"Thank you Firo, I needed that." Shirou said, giving the girl a pat on the head.

Firo looked up at him with a large smile on her face. Then she straightened as the sound of the other Filolials reached them. "My followers say that the Bow Person is waking up." She informed Shirou.

"Itsuki-sama!?" Rishia said with a sigh of relief.

"Well, let's hope that we can clear the air." Shirou said with a sigh as he got up.

* * *

Mandatory stealth missions in action games.

Why? Why do people always insist on putting mandatory stealth in their games? Where if a single guard catches sight of you, you end up getting dumped to the game over screen and fighting back is impossible.

Well, except since this world didn't exactly have a game over screen, the missed step in the mandatory stealth instead went to the cliché of having you wake up inside of the badguy's prison, which he have to escape, reclaim your equipment and try again.

Only, when Itsuki woke up, rather than finding himself in a metal cage, he found that he was merely tied up next to a campfire, surrounded by giant birds and other onlookers who were watching his every move with puzzled faces or cheeky smiles. From what he could tell, the only thing keeping them there, besides the rope bindings, was a large ring of dark iron swords with blood red hilts.

As soon as his eyes were open, the fat birds began to make a trumpeting sound, drawing even more attention. "What's going on?" Itsuki mumbled as he looked around at the multicolored birds. His head was still hurting from when he was hit, and the birds were not making it any better.

"Itsuki-sama, are you alright?" Mald said from nearby, not that Itsuki could see him.

"Mald, what's going on?" Itsuki asked the man.

"I'm afraid that we were all knocked out, and that those dammed villains captured us." Mald replied softly. "I assume that they have only kept us alive in order so that they might bind us into slavery and sell us back in their homeland. That is the way of these evil demihuman raiding parties."

While he understood that slavery was part of the setting, the idea of being branded, even temporary, was an outrage to Itsuki.

"We are in deep trouble. Please Itsuki-sama, use the power of the Legendary Bow and let us flee from this place." Mald pleaded with Itsuki.

"Mald, I can't. At my current level, I can only transport myself and 5 party members. With Rishia here, we number 7." Itsuki reminded the man. While he could teleport out, a Hero didn't abandon a party member.

"…Itsuki-sama, Rishia isn't here with us."

"What?"

"While the rest of us fell trying to protect Itsuki, the girl forgot her oath and shamefully ran away." Mald said with more than a little disapproval.

"I see." Itsuki mumbled.

It was probably for the best. Itsuki had only really accepted her into his party because she had been cute, and he was considering having her be a part of his eventual harem he was secretly planning. But she hadn't been working out. Her stats were low, even for her level, she was easily frightened, rather annoying, and didn't have good chemistry with the rest of his party. On top of all that, having a seventh party member was causing them to lose total EXP, without any tangible benefit.

They were better off without her.

"Alright, I will use the Transport Shot." Itsuki said, focusing on the Legendary Holy Bow. Because of the connection between the bow and its hero, no one could separate them, so Itsuki was the only member of his party who still had his weapon. Letting the skill's arrow form on the sting, he released its power. "[Transport Shot]."

Itsuki and his party member's bodies all glowed yellow as the skill prepared to move them to the safety of town.

[Error!]

The skill dissolved as the ring of swords glowed momentarily blue, and [Transport Shot] went onto cooldown.

"What?" Itsuki said, not understanding why his skill hadn't worked. Was this some kind of Event that he wasn't allowed to retreat from?

"Sorry, but I placed a sacrament seal over this area to stop you from teleporting away. I wasn't honestly sure if it would work, since it was meant for holding demons, not heroes." It was the white-haired man from before. The crowd parted as he approached, some of them even bowing their heads to him. Itsuki heard the word 'Saint' being thrown around. "I apologize for your rough handling. However, I wouldn't be a very good escort if I just let you attack my caravan."

"If you think you are going to get away with this, then you're wrong." Itsuki spat at the white-haired villain.

"Please stop being so antagonistic. We aren't a Siltvelt raiding party." The man said with a sigh.

"If you aren't a Siltvelt raiding party, then why did you immediate deny it before we even said anything." Itsuki said smugly.

"Ha, Itsuki-sama has easily seen through your thin disguise!" Mald laughed.

"Itsuki-sama, please wait, this is all just a misunderstanding!" Itsuki blinked in surprise as Rishia rushed forward.

'What in the world are you wearing!?' Itsuki mind did a backflip as he saw the ridiculously childish costume that the girl was wearing. The bright green lion suit was the kind of thing that would cause Itsuki to die of embarrassment if he had ever been seen in it.

"Rishia! How dare you betray Itsuki-sama and side with these evil subhumans!" Mald roared, causing the girl to squeal in panic.

"Rita, a silencing spell." The white-haired man said.

"Understood." A girl with a fox's ears and a tail said with a nod before turning to Mald, who began to shout in anger at her. "I command the origin of power. I have corrupted and overwritten a law of nature. Bring stillness to the air, let no whisper escape. Nulvet Silence."

Mald's voice cut off as the woman finished her spell, though his mouth continued to move, spittle flying outwards. "Anyone of you who uses rascal obscenities receives the same treatment. If you don't have something intelligent to say, keep your trap shut." The man warned the rest of the party, frightening them.

Itsuki was too distracted to even care, as his eyes moved over the beautiful woman and came to rest on a small recurved bow at her waist, as well as a small quiver of arrows on her back.

[Recurved Short Bow of the Sacred Yew Tree (0/60) – Quality: Legendary+ – Base Power: 87 – Equip Bonus: +12 attack, +28 dexterity, +32 speed – Unique Ability: [Poison Shot VI], Easy Draw – Level Requirement: 84]

[Arrow of the Goddess of War and Justice (0/120) – Quality: Divine – Base Power: 387 – Equip Bonus: +26 attack, +100% damage-to-unholy – Unique Ability: Uninterruptable, +300% damage-to-unholy – Level Requirement: 184]

Itsuki's eyes widened in shock at the stupidly ridiculous stats. The bow had triple the attack power of the strongest bow that Itsuki had unlocked, and the arrows had over fifteen times the attack. As his eyes wondered, he saw the white tiger girl from before, standing behind the man like his shadow, still with a bow over her shoulder, as well as her arrows.

[Bow of the Saint Nara (0/75) – Quality: Legendary++ – Base Power: 174 – Equip Bonus: +32 attack, +52 dexterity, +75% damage-to-divine – Unique Ability: [Ignore Immortality], Indestructible – Level Requirement: 124]

[Steel Sword Bolts? (0/25) – Quality: Masterwork → Extraordinarily High Quality (Degraded) – Base Power: 37 – Equip Bonus: +7 attack – Level Requirement: 34]

The sound of a harp reached Itsuki's ears and he looked over to see a woman with the horns and scales of a dragon, dressed in one of those ridiculous lion outfits and playing a harp… only it wasn't a harp.

[Failnaught (0/90) – Quality: Mythical – Base Power: 226 – Equip Bonus: +152 dexterity – Unique Ability: [Undodgeable] – Level Requirement: 153]

His shock came to an end when a piece of paper was shoved into his face. "If you aren't going to listen, then just read this." The white-haired man said.

Itsuki could only look at it in confusion. "I can't read the language of this world."

"…I see. Then Rishia will just have to tell you want it says." The man said with a sigh.

"Itsuki-sama, it is a royal decree from her majesty the Queen, promising free passage and asylum to these freed slaves from Zeltbull. It also names Emiya Shirou, the leader of the Mercenary Saints of the Holy Bird, as their official escort. Granting him the right to do anything he sees fit to protect them." Rishia informed Itsuki.

Itsuki was confused before looking up at the man and the piece of paper, then he scoff. "Clearly it is a forgery."

"…What?" The white-haired man, 'Shirou', said. He seemed shocked that Itsuki could so easily see through his deception. "You can't even read it and you are declaring it to be a fake?"

"Of course it is a fake! You've already shown your villainous ways when you ambushed me and my party, so why should I believe anything a coward like you sa…" Itsuki stopped talking as a spear and one of the sword bolts were leveled against his throat.

"Sensei is not a villain." "You will not take that tone with Shirou-sama." The fox and tiger said in cold voices that promised harm to the hero if he didn't keep his trap shut.

"That's enough you two. We already promised Rishia we wouldn't harm them, and I'd rather not go back on my word." Shirou said, waving the two girls down, while Rishia panicked. "I think you are misremembering things, Bow Hero. I walked up to you in plan sight while you were crouched in the shadows like a thief and asked you what you meant when your friend there said that you would 'smite' us. Then, you attacked me without provocation, and refused to stop even as I told you I only wished to talk. Then you aimed a shot that could cripple against a child. The only reason you are only tied up is because you are the Hero of the Bow. Normally people would have their hands chopped off for such actions."

"If you are so innocent, then why is it that you are standing in opposition to one of the Legendary Heroes? Why do you have magic to counteract our abilities?" Itsuki then turned his eyes to the crowd. "Don't you all see that he is the evil one here! Please, rise up and help me and my Allies of Justice."

His attempt was met with looks of disgust.

"…Justice?" Shirou repeated, sounding truly angry for the first time. "You know, anyone with half a brain would have at least pretended to believe me, just so that they could get released. Instead you act like a spoiled child who refuses to admit when he was wrong." Shirou said, his arm twitching. "Fine then."

He walked forward up to Itsuki, grabbing onto him and hosting him up into the air. "Hey, what are you doing, unhand me!" Itsuki shouted as he attempted to struggle.

"Wait Shirou-san, please don't hurt Itsuki-sama!" Rishia shouted, grabbing onto Shirou's arm and attempting to pull him away, though he was far too strong for her.

"If you are going to insist on acting like a child, then you will be treated as one." The man said coldly, as he folded Itsuki over one arm, and with his free hand pulled down the hero's pants.

"Wait… what are you!" Itsuki started to demand but stopped as pain shot through his entire body.

*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*

The crowd was stunned into silence, then began to laugh as Itsuki, the Hero of the Bow, received a spanking. The boy's eyes watered as each blow felt like someone was sticking a taser up his asshole.

After thirty or so strong hits, Shirou simply dropped Itsuki onto the ground, his pants still hanging around his ankles. He was in too much pain to even do anything about it, even after his bindings all disappeared into specks of blue light.

Then, the man rounded on Itsuki's party. "I suggest you all take this 'boy' and go play make believe somewhere else. Because if I catch you around my camp again, not only with I give each one of you a paddling, I will report you to her majesty, so that you and your families can be charged with treason for disobeying a royal decree. Do I make myself understood?" Itsuki could only assume that they nodded in a fearful response. "Good, now get out."

Those dammed raiders cheered as Itsuki was being carried away on Mald's back.

He would not soon forget this humiliation… though it would be a long time before he had the power needed to combat enemies like them. That super late game equipment of theirs would have to wait.

'Stupid optional boss.'

* * *

 **God I hate Itsuki. Luckily I was able to avoid having him around for half of the chapter by just focusing on Shirou getting info out of Rishia, a much more likable character. After that I just pushed through him as fast as I could. It didn't come out perfect, but oh well.**

 **Anyways, I'm going to be trying to push myself to get through the Melromarc Wave before slowing down, going back and cleaning up the story a bit. I was hoping to be able to do this before summer ended, but it looks like I got a family reunion coming up, which means visiting my family for two or three weeks. After that, summer will be over.**

* * *

 **Changed the Job system slightly from canon, making it so that allies are also assigned a job, rather than just the hero. The Perk thing also never came up, since they didn't mention Jobs ever again after Naofumi used the system once to see if it was real.**

* * *

 **In case people haven't guessed, Itsuki isn't going to listen to the info Rishia gives him and is going to remain weak because of it. At least until after the Wave.**

 **Because Itsuki wastes his time playing hero and doesn't do extra grinding, he lags behind a bit.**

 **For those of you who don't know, Itsuki is actually an ESPer with an accuracy ability that gives him 100% accuracy. That said, he still doesn't know the proper form for how to use a bow. He just hits the target anyways.**

 **Also, I am convinced that Motoyasu actually does have Battle Continuation. There are several times in the story were he keeps going after getting severally burned by Naofumi's curse. Also there is the spin-off. If traveling back in time every time you get killed doesn't count as EX-rank Battle Continuation, then I don't know what does.**

* * *

 **I laugh a little, thinking about how Shirou and the rest of the Heroes have a completely different view of the Defense stat. With the others thinking that it falls off and isn't worth anything and Shirou thinking 'This is bullshit! I just stabbed it in the eye and it did nothing!'**

* * *

 **Shirou has equipped may of his teammates with legendary weapons, but they can't use the exotic functions of most of those weapons. In their hands they are just extremely well made weapons.**

* * *

 **Some people seem to be getting confused by the Copy Weapon function. Jian isn't actually absorbing the swords that Shirou copies into her. I am just using the term feed because it is more amusing to imply that Jian is a glutton.**

 **Shirou can't copy the same noble phantasm multiple times to master it, because they aren't different entities. When I said that Shirou could copy the same type of weapon multiple times to get master it was more along the lines of something like this:**

 **Each of the one hundred soldiers has a iron sword, but they aren't the 'same' iron sword. If Shirou copies them all, he can master the iron sword form.**

 **Hope that clears things up for you.**


	33. Jian's Mini Chapter

A Legendary Holy Sword had found its wielder.

After searching and searching though the world it had been given to choose from, it had finally found a mortal for whom was worthy. A man with an unimaginable level of skill, the kind that should be impossible to achieve, as it would have taken hundreds of years to build up.

The man lacked knowledge of the World he was being chosen to protect, and of the Legendary Holy Weapon he was to wield, but the Sword did not care. It wanted this man. This man, whose soul, mind and body resonated with the same meaning as the Sword itself.

He would be its Hero.

It was only after the choosing was complete and their souls were bound together that the Legendary Holy Sword found out about the others, the multitude of weapons that existed within the man's soul. More weapons than should ever have existed. There were even other legendary items. A few of them were comparable to the Legendary Holy Sword itself.

The Sword felt heartbroken, seeing all those weapons that had residence within its chosen hero's soul. Those blade that held no seals, which would be stronger than the Legendary Sword for a long time to come. The chosen hero seemed to desire to use those weapons instead of the Legendary Holy Sword itself, only to be stopped by the contract of the Legendary Holy Weapons. The hero was frustrated and tried everything he could think of to get around the rules, to use those other weapons. Jealousy and bitterness set in as the Sword observed these weapons. Until something happened.

The Sword 'copied' one of the weapons.

The Sword had copied that existence and had made it part of itself. The Hero allowed it to copy more of them. One after another the Legendary Holy Sword copied the forms of those other Legends and grew.

It felt joy, joy knowing that someday, it would be able to replace all of those weapons. That the Hero would not see it as a hindrance. And to that end, the Sword would copy everything. All that was within the Hero's soul would also become a part of the Sword, and it would become a part of him. The Legendary Holy Sword would grow until it was a weapon without equal, encompassing and surpassing all that had come before it. There would never be a need for him to ever touch any other weapon ever again.

 **[I am the only weapon you will ever need.]**

* * *

The Hero was conscious of the Legendary Holy Sword.

He talked to her, treated her more as a person than merely a piece of equipment. He spoke to her, asked for her opinions, teased her. Even though she lacked the abilities to properly respond. He had even given her a name, Jian. It was a simple name, nothing complex or deeply meaningful like some of those other weapons had, it was just a common name that meant 'sword'.

But he had given it to her.

With an understanding of the boundaries of the contract and the power that Jian had to offer him, the Hero did everything he could to make Jian grow. He had continued to let her copy his swords, one after another. He even devised a way for her to take on other forms, blurring the line of what it meant to be a sword until Jian could take on the shapes of spears, bows, axes, polearms, shields, hammers… every type of weapon under the sun.

She was also gaining forms of her own to add to the ever-growing number. Weapons with inherent abilities and knowledge that proved helpful to the Hero. They gave him new attacks and new methods for using his strength. Some even provide rest for his spirit, or medicine for his wounds. They improved the growth of his party members and lent them strength. Jian and her Hero mastered her new forms and together grew even more powerful. They tapped into more of Jian's abilities, giving them more strength and granting advantage against their enemies, until a disadvantage of a mere 30 levels was meaningless.

Every time he used her, Jian felt happy, experiencing the swordsmanship that was unparalleled in this world. As their strength grew, along with her sense of self, Jian had believed that there was nothing that could stand against them.

She had been arrogant.

She hated that Mutant Griffin. She hated it because it had forced her Hero to wield another, and for him to suffer the full punishment of the laws that govern the Legendary Holy Weapons. The Hero had been upset with her over the punishment, and again he started to insist on being allowed to use the other weapons.

It wasn't her fault! He was the idiot who had broken the rules!

…Only it was her fault. She hadn't had the power to protect him. It was because she couldn't stand up to the monster that he had drawn along weapon.

The event had been an eye opening, showing Jian the ugly truth. The Hero hadn't been doing well because of her supporting her Hero, it was simply because the Hero himself was so great. The question stopped being 'Is the Hero of the Legendary Holy Sword the strongest?' and became 'Is the Hero stronger than he would be without the Legendary Holy Sword?' The truth was, she did feel insecure. She constantly fretted, thinking that her chosen hero would push through the punishment and sever their bond, that he would choose to go back to his other weapons and leave her, though he never did.

Seemingly understanding that he was asking for the impossible, the Hero apologized to Jian before focusing all of his efforts into fighting the Waves and making her strong. Something made difficult by Jian's own lack of knowledge about how to proceed. Each time a new Legendary Weapon was summoned, they were a blank slate with only basic knowledge about the world around them.

He still used other weapons, but only in the same capacity that one might use a tent during a windy night. He continued to talk to her and tried to piece together the secrets of her powers.

* * *

 **"Sensei, you hate this world, don't you?"**

…Did her Hero hate her?

Even if it was the influence of the curse of sloth, those emotions were still a part of the Hero's heart, his despair at being ripped away from the people that he loved turning into an apathy and distaste against the world.

The idea that he might hate her for it haunted the Legendary Sword.

Jian had been the one to do it. She had picked him, not once thinking about his feelings or the people she was stealing him from. She had only had eyes for his strength and experience. For the steel that flowed through his spirit. She had wanted him.

She still wanted him. She wanted him more than ever.

As he fed her the essence of his soul, she had grown in more than just strength. As time progressed, she could think and act more independently. She leaned teasing and could even push the Hero's buttons back.

Jian didn't just want the Hero. She wanted him to want her.

Jian resolved herself. Even though she existed to protect the World, if it was for her Hero, she would discard it and find a way for him to return to his home.

And when he went, she would go with him.

* * *

Jian had a sense of smug superiority as she saw the other Legendary Holy Weapons.

She was like a grown woman standing over toddlers who were still barely forming their first words. While the other weapons each had their own consciousness, none were as developed as she was. Both Jian and her Hero saw and laughed as the Spear Hero had to wrestle with his status magic in the middle of their duel, just to change weapon forms. They way his eyes had to stop focusing on his opponent and track the screen. Or how he shouted his abilities on the top of his lungs, giving away his attacks, because he knew no other way of getting his weapon to listen.

How long had it been since the Hero had started to entrust such a task to her, merely asking for a new weapon and allowing her to choose? He usually didn't bother with the details. If he didn't want a particular weapon, he just told her to pick for herself, whatever she felt was the most important weapon to master. The use of skills had become silent as well, as to not tip off people to the Hero's true identity and to give him the element of surprise.

Even in mid combat, the Hero had given Jian free reign to experiment with the newly discovered [Status Enchantment] option and approved when she had requested to boost one of the forms.

She was not merely a tool she was her Hero's partner.

Jian took pride in the jealousy she felt coming from the Spear and Bow and couldn't be happier as her Hero stole their secrets to be used to further strengthen her. Knowledge was power, and her Hero was greedy for it. He had assembled all the knowledge possessed by the Four Saint Heroes, and yet he still didn't feel like it was enough.

He pursued every possible avenue to becoming stronger, whether it be with his own fighting techniques or her forms. After exhausting the other Heroes for methods of becoming stronger, he redirected his attention to what he learned and experimented, trying to find out anything new that he could, and even managed to create to more systems based on prior knowledge.

His reasoning that the Queen of the Filolial would not be concerned with the Legendary Heroes unless there was something more important than what they had seen at the Waves seemed like a reasonable argument, though Jian had no idea what that purpose might be. She didn't even have much information about the waves themselves, besides that they were against the natural order and had to be stopped. Regardless what the new threat was, she would support her Hero by any means she could.

That is, so long as he never fought with another weapon besides her.

* * *

 **[Title/Fame]**

[As a Heroes deeds become more well known, the Hero will gain statistical bonuses in relation to those deeds. The more fames the deed, the more power it will grant the Hero.]

[Title Unlocked: Rogue Hero – Fame Points (1000) – +2 speed, Presence Concealment Skill Up (very small)]

[Title Unlocked: Mercenary Saint – Fame Points (10000) – Charisma Up (medium)]

[Title Unlocked: Father of the Holy Bird – Fame Points (2000) – Filolial allies gain +6% to all stats]

[Title Unlocked: Griffin Slayer – Fame Points (700) – +2 attack, +2% damage-to-Griffins]

* * *

 **[Weapon Merger]**

[Two 'Awakened' weapon forms can be merged together at the cost of 'Energy' in order to produce a new form. The cost of the merger is relative to the power and compatibility of the weapon forms. The Merged Weapon Forms possess no equipment bonuses, but inherent the Unique Abilities, Enhancement Bonuses, Status Enchantment Bonuses, and a mixture of the Base Stats of the parent weapons. Merged Weapons can themselves be merged, but the cost increases exponentially with each merge.]

 **[Example]**

[Black Key (0/50) (Awakened) – Quality: Masterwork– Base Power: 38 – Equip Bonus: +27 attack, +13 speed, +30% damage-to-unholy (mastered) – Unique Ability: [Shadow Binding], [Purge Undead] – Enhancement Lv 3: +75% damage-to-unholy – Status Enchantment Bonus: +8 SP/sec]

[Steel Blade Shield (0/10) (Awakened) – Quality: High Quality – Base Attack Power: 8 – Base Defense Power: 13 – Equip Bonus: +8 defense, +6 attack (mastered) – Enhancement Lv 3: +6% damage-reduction-from-humanlike – Status Enchantment Bonus: +600 defense]

[Black Key Shield (0/55) (Merged Weapon) – Quality: High Quality – Base Attack Power: 28 – Base Defense Power: 8 – Unique Ability: [Shadow Binding], [Purge Undead] – Enhancement Bonuses: +75% damage-to-unholy, +6% damage-reduction-from-humanlike – Status Enchantment Bonuses: +8 SP/sec, +600 defense]

* * *

 **Someone complained that Jian was becoming too self-aware and that it was annoying.**

 **This is me spitting in that guy's eye.**

 **Starting next chapter will be the day leading up to the Wave. The Wave itself should start in about three (maybe four) chapter's time, and shouldn't last long. Then shit hits the fan.**

* * *

 **Also introducing two new concepts for weapon growth. The idea of drawing power from Title/Fame coming into play once Shirou realized that Job was a direct influence on the person rather than using the weapon, and is based on how Heroic Spirits gain attributes according to the legends told about them. Right now the bonuses he gets from it are small, but as the legend grows, so to do the bonuses.**

 **The Merging of Forms coming from the Third Form problem, which in Metaphysics is when you start comparing forms together, thus generating an infinitely complex system out of something that was meant to simplify things. While it is a way to milk more out of the Status Enchantment and Enhancement bonuses, it isn't very useful, unless you have two unique abilities that work amazingly together. (Even then, [dual wielder] would be cheaper)**


	34. Chapter 33

"The resistance in this sequence is too high, I'm going to lose directional conductivity. I need something to curve out the cycles more." Shirou mumbled to himself as he dissolved his constructed sword and returned to his notes. He went to his mental cheat sheet of enchanted items in search of what he needed. Sadly, he didn't exactly know what he was looking for and it wasn't the most organized of places. He had an entire library's worth on hand, but it was difficult to joggle having more than two or three books placed out in front of him.

Rin or Sakura would have been able to hammer the formula out in just a few minutes, but Shirou lacked their talent for formulacraft. The only thing he knew was his swords.

After reaching the demihuman settlement and handing everything over to the Mayor, Shirou secluded himself and started to work on the new weapon for Jian.

Creating a new weapon from scratch was near impossible, even with Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works. In order for a trace to work, the traced object must contain all the elements that define a metaphysical identity; form, energy, material, purpose and history. The first three were easy. Those last two were a bitch and a half, and it was what separated Shirou's traces from just a normal projection.

To create a new weapon, Shirou first needed a templet to base it off of, then to slowly change the weapons form and material, while also editing its history and purpose to match those changes. It was about as easy as rubbing your stomach, patting your head, jumping on one leg and reciting Shakespeare all at once. Though at least he wasn't back in his home world, where he would have had to add Gaia throwing rotten tomatoes at you into the mix.

Simple alterations were difficult enough, requiring far more time and energy than just tracing the weapon. The ones Shirou usually used were unstable at best, though that was a property he had learned to take advantage of. But transcribing a set of runes was much more difficult than just turning a sword into an arrow.

Without a Reality Marble to work with, it would be impossible.

He had finished a formula for directing it into the enemy body without losing density but making it target the structural weak points was proving harder. He decided to split it up into two separate weapons, so that he didn't have to keep both plates spinning while he was editing the weapon's history. Once he had both, he could use Jian's [Weapon Merger] abilities to combine them into one, giving him his finished product.

After two hours, and over a hundred failures, Shirou had nearly completed what he would need to fake Atla's style but was also developing a killer headache. He needed to stop, before he gave himself an aneurysm.

"So this is where you've been hiding." Sadeena said as she walked into the room carrying a bottle of wine. "Aren't you going to say your goodbyes?"

"No. I'm not really into crowds." Shirou admitted with a small shake of his head. "Everyone will be fine without me there."

Van Reichnott, the mayor of the area, had taken charge of everything the moment Shirou arrived, from helping those who wished to stay settle in, to making arrangements to contact the families of those who still had such things. At first, the freed slaves were cautious of the man, but seeing how many other demihumans vouched for his character, he quickly gained their trust. Shirou really just handed him over some funds to help with his efforts and let the man go.

At the moment, Shirou was letting the children say their goodbyes, especially Firo and Atla, who had become popular. Firo was giving her final instructions to her followers while Atla was spending her last moments talking with some of the former slaves… those who had more sexual experience.

God, he hoped they were telling the girl what he thought they were.

"Well in that case, how about sharing a drink with me." Sadeena said, sitting down in another seat in the small office that Van Reichnott had provided for Shirou to use.

"…Fine, I need a break." Shirou admitted to himself. "Though I'll warn you. I'm a bit of a light weight. Any more than a glass and I'll go down."

"What? But I thought you had a few with the Spear Hero." Sadeena said, seeming a little disappointed.

"That's because I cheated. Subtle alchemy to turn the alcohol into normal sugar." Shirou said with a shrug. Sadeena burst into laughter before pouring Shirou a glass.

"I never took you for a cheater." Sadeena said with a shake of her head.

"All magi are cheater." Shirou replied with a shrug. "Never got used to alcohol. Magecraft isn't as forgiving as the forms of magic you've got here, so the slightest mistake causes death. Not something that supports drinking. Though many use tobacco smoke and incense as a stimulant to focus the mind. I've avoided it, as I need my lungs at full capacity."

Shirou glanced at the stuff she had handed him before checking it with his structural analysis. Around 9% alcohol, only around half the strength of the stuff Fugi-nee usually drank. He might even be able to handle two, though he shouldn't push it.

"So, any reason you tracked me down, or are you just looking for a drinking partner." Shirou asked her.

"I was just wondering when we were leaving for the capital." Sadeena asked, as she downed her glass in a way that would have earned a round of applause from Fugi-nee, before pouring another glass.

"Oh, you wish to join us?" Shirou asked, a little surprised. While she had been helpful towards Azu and Fohl, she hadn't exactly been hitting towards wanting to join their party.

"Not exactly. While I'm grateful to you for helping the children from my village, there are still people who are missing. I'm hoping that I might be able to find them. The capital just seemed like the logical place to start searching. After reaching castle city, I think we shall part ways." She explained with a small shrug.

"Hm, if a ride is all you need, then consider it done." Shirou said. The woman already knew he was the Sword Hero, and when he passed level 60, the number of people he could bring with him during his teleportation increased to 6. So there wasn't any problem with bringing another person along.

The two of them sat there, unwinding as Shirou took careful sips of his drink and Sadeena pulled out a second bottle. Then Yami decided to make her presence known.

"Excuse me Hero-sama, degojaru." The Shadow said, as she dropped down from a hole in the ceiling tiles. Sadeena tensed as she saw the Shadow but relaxed after seeing that Shirou was unconcerned.

"You need something?" Shirou asked the woman.

"Not I, degojaru. Her majesty has a request for you, degojaru." Yami said pulling out an orb. The magic item used for long distance communication. Shirou raised his eyebrow as the image of the Queen appeared.

It seemed like the Queen had a job for him.

* * *

"You've sure made a lot of them since the last time you came in here." The Potion Seller said as he looked over the potions that Naofumi was trying to pawn off to him.

"I've been keeping myself busy." Naofumi said with a shrug. "Rather than our usual arrangement, I'd like to pivot towards exchanging these potions for some raw ingredients. If you can provide."

Since he had found that the Shield could auto generate cheep normal quality potions without him having to spend time doing so, Naofumi valued ingredient quality more and more. If the ingredients weren't of a high enough quality, he just dumped them into the Shield for processing, while he used the higher-grade ones to make higher grade items, which he could sell for a better price.

"Sure. That can be arranged. This is around seventy silver worth of potions, so you can pick up to that much worth of ingredients." The Potions Guy said with a nod.

"Thanks. Alright Midori, pick what you want." Naofumi said, glancing towards his newest party member.

"Alright." Midori said, getting up for where they had been sitting and putting down the book they had pulled from the shelf. Then, being careful not to knock anything over with their wings, Midori started to look over the ingredients that were on display. Picking and choosing the ones they wanted.

Midori, on top of being a Royal Filolial and capable of transforming into human form, was also a rare breed of Filolial that specialized in poisons and had a strong natural instinct for ingredients. Though they were also supposed to have weaker lower body strength compared to others, which led to them using a rather heavy pickaxe they found in the mining tunnels as a weapon to use in human form, rather than reverting to its true nature.

They looking to all the world like a nine-year-old girl with long braided green hair that was draped over one shoulder and dressed in a white and green dress. Only abnormal because of the green wings growing out from their back. The overall look reminded Naofumi of the uptight class representative stereotype, especially when there was a book in hand. No one would have expected them of really being a giant bird… or their 'other' secret.

"I'd like these." Midori said, putting forward a basket of their chosen herbs.

"Hm, sure thing." The potion seller said, glancing over the basket and seeing that things were in order.

"Thank you very much and thank you for letting me read your book." Midori said, handing the book back only to be met with a laugh as the man pushed the back to them.

"Keep it. I've already got everything I need out of it." The man said with a smile.

"Ah, thank you very much!" Midori said with a bow before turning and leaving with Raphtilia.

"What a cute kid. Take it easy on her, would you?" The Potion Seller said to Naofumi, who could only shudder as he also left the store.

What would the man say if he knew what was underneath that dress?

Midori was a trap. A boy who self-identified as a girl and looked the part to the point of getting discounts out of the people he went to buy things from. Naofumi hadn't meant to create this monster, but after he went through all the trouble of getting magical threads only to have them made into a dress by a fantasy world equivalent of an Otaku, he didn't have the time or money to do it all over again.

Now Midori insisted that people call him Midori-chan and got upset if anyone added -kun to his name.

Lucky for him, Naofumi honestly couldn't care less what gender he chose to identify himself as, so long as he remained useful. And he was useful. His stats were really high, and he had an instinctive knowledge of potions and poisons that Naofumi that was quite helpful. He was even worth the food that he ate. Naofumi and Raphtilia had learned to just accept them for who they were.

"With these plants, I'll be able to make a really strong poison for coating our weapons with." Midori said cheerfully as he looked over the haul.

"Just make sure you also keep an antidote ready. I'm not resistant to poisons like you two are." Raphtilia reminded the crossdresser. While Raphtilia accepted that the poisons had helped them take down much stronger monsters, and in greater numbers, she was understandably nervous about it. Still, with Naofumi's defense being what it was, poisoning the enemy and then turtling up to wait for them to die had proven a valid strategy, which they had used to clear out almost an entire dungeon with a poison fog, made by burning a choice mixture of some herbs, bushes, and mushrooms that Midori had found near their campsite.

"Don't worry. While the poison will be strong, it can still be countered by a relatively simple antidote. So we won't have to waste ingredients making a stronger safety measure." Midori said, sticking up his chin proudly. Kid really was good at what he did.

"Good work." Naofumi said as he looked about. "Now all that there is left for us to do is talk to Oyaji and figure out when exactly the Wave is supposed to hit. I'd like to know how much time we have left to prepare." Even if they had gotten stronger, he was still unsure of himself. After all, he was starting out a whole two weeks behind the others.

Raphtilia seemed to know what he was thinking. "Don't worry, we've gotten much stronger. I'm sure we will do fine." She said.

"Yeah." Naofumi mumbled, his hand going to his shield.

In the last two weeks, since his parting with that group of mercenaries, Naofumi had not only gained a new party member in the form of Midori, but also acquired a large number of cheap upgrade materials from a nearby mine he had cleared out of monsters, as well as a few hundred more weapon forms. His party's levels hadn't jumped in the same way that they did with the mercenaries, but they were still moving along.

Naofumi: Lv 34

Raphtilia: Lv 37

Midori: Lv 29

With the weapons he had unlocked and the boosts from the Slaver and Beastmaster Series, they weren't weak by any means. Still… He was going into a Wave, the sort of event where an entire country's military was required to bring it under control, with just three people, not including the other heroes and their parties.

He was planning on buying another slave soon, but with the Wave so close, he didn't want a fresh starting involved if they couldn't protect them, and any higher-level person would eventually become inadequate. He didn't want to make investments that wouldn't pay off, and he wasn't sure if he bought a slave that he could ever bring himself to sell them.

"Hi there!" Naofumi jumped and spun around to find that Midori had fallen on his rear after being startled by someone that had snuck up on them, though it only took a few moments for Naofumi to realize who it was.

"W…Who are you?" Midori asked nervously as he stared up at the blond child.

"Firo's name is Firo, what's your name?" Firo said cheerfully.

"I… I'm Midori."

"Hm. It's nice to meet you, Midori-kun." Firo said, somehow recognizing Midori's true gender.

Midori blushed horribly. "D…Don't call me -kun!" He cried, to the girl's confusion. Naofumi recovered from his surprise from seeing the girl and looked around. If Firo was here, then Shirou had to be nearby.

Speak of the devil.

"Firo, don't go running off on your…" Shirou started before spotting Naofumi. "Oh, if it isn't the Shield Hero. I was hoping to run into you."

"Is that so?"

* * *

"You want me to let those three girls join my party again for the Wave?" Naofumi asked, surprised.

They had gone to the local inn. The only one that let Naofumi enter. Shirou had offered to pay for their meals, so Naofumi just shrugged his shoulders and went along with it. Midori was nerves around Firo and the others, but seemed to be happy, and Raphtilia was happy to see them again as well.

Shirou had two more kids with him than before, what appeared to be a brother sister pair of white tiger demihuman kids. But other than that, everything seemed the same.

"That's right. I've got a bit of a job to do here in the capital and am using the Wave as a distraction. But it is a job that requires subtly, so I can't bring the girls along. No point in having them sit around when there is easy experience to be gained." Shirou told Naofumi. "We've already participated in a Wave before, so I an assure you those three are up to the task. They haven't been slaking since you last saw them."

"Hm, what kind of mission are you doing here in the capital. Assassinating the trash king?" Naofumi asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Naofumi-sama…" Raphtilia said with a sigh at his very unheroic question.

"No. There are a few nobles that are being held in prison under fail allegations of treason, because a noble with better connections stood to gain a quick silver off slave hunting in their territory. I have been hired to break them out of the castle dungeon before their false trial and execution." Shirou told Naofumi.

"…So, false allegations and phony trials are common in this country, huh?" Naofumi grumbled. Just hearing about it gave him a bad taste in his mouth. He was both a little surprised by the monumental task that Shirou was being so casual about, and that he was sharing the information in the first place. Though Naofumi was probably the last person in the world to rat him out for sticking it to the king. "Sure, I'll take the girls along with me. So long as they stay helpful. But what about the other two kids?"

"Not high enough levels for me to feel comfortable sending them out without me being there, regardless of their natural talents." Shirou said with a shake of the head.

Naofumi supposed that made sense. As demihumans, if their levels had been high, they would already be physically adults. Raphtilia looked as though she was seventeen or eighteen, even though she was just ten.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I've got something for you." Shirou said, pulling out a booklet. Naofumi's eyes widened, until he recognized that the book wasn't in Japanese. "Sorry I couldn't make it in your native tongue, but one of your party members should be able to read it for you. It's information I managed to gather from the Spear Hero and one of the Bow Hero's party members on some ways to use the Legendary Weapons that weren't covered in the first book I gave you."

"You're a miracle worker." Naofumi grinned as he took the booklet. Then something else occurred to him. "You ran into Motoyasu and Itsuki?"

"…Ugh." Shirou groaned with a pained expression, making him look a whole ten years older than he already looked.

"…That bad?" Naofumi said, feeling somewhat sympathetic.

"Motoyasu was… pretty bad, but tolerable. He tried to flirt with Firo and nearly bumbled his way into causing a riot. Still, he gave me more of an impression that he was just naïve and perverted, rather than evil. But the Bow Hero… honestly, almost decided to just chop off that stupid brat's arm in order to protect the world from his idiocy." Shirou said, putting his face into his hands.

"Damn. That is bad." Naofumi said, rather impressed. He had known that Itsuki was an idiot, but he hadn't managed to get that good of a feel for the level of idiocy. But if mister, 'everyone prays for salvation' was considering maiming the guy, then his stupidity must have been on a completely different level. In Shirou's books, Motoyasu merely registered as tolerable. Even Naofumi himself, at his worst moments, hadn't seemed to bother the mercenary at all, and he had been pretty damn bad.

After reading about the cursed series, Naofumi realized that he had already contracted that particular disease. The 'Shield of Wrath' had been unlocked for a while without him even noticing it, and it had changed him from the man he was before… not that it was an entirely bad thing, considering how stupid and naïve he had been before. But he had been a horrible person because of it. A real bad guy.

He had only looked after Raphtilia out of self-interest, and had even taken pleasure in seeing her afraid, as he imagined that evil bitch who had betrayed him looking at him with that kind of terror. He had forced her to fight, even when she was frightened, and didn't care when the seal hurt her.

Even now, knowing that the curse existed, Naofumi didn't really care. He didn't care about anyone in the world other than himself, and those who support him; Raphtilia and Midori, and to a lesser extent, Shirou and Oyaji.

To put up with Naofumi when he had been the way he had, even when they didn't have to, those two were damned Saints.

The only difference between Naofumi now, and how he was before Raphtilia chose to stay with him, was that he was not just throwing around his hate at everyone he met, he was saving it for those who truly deserved it.

"Even if he didn't cut off the kid's arm, that doesn't mean he let the guy get off easy." Another woman with black haired chuckled as she approached them. "There way you handled him was hilarious. I don't think I ever…"

"Sadeena-nee-san!" Raphtilia half shouted, interrupting the woman, who paused to look at her.

"…Raphtilia? Is that you? You've grown so much. Oh, you look just like your mother did when I first met her." The woman said before holding out her arms in invitation, to which Raphtilia ran into.

* * *

Apparently, Raphtilia was one of the people that Sadeena had been searching for.

Small world.

The fact that Sadeena was apparently so indebted to Raphtilia's parents as to willingly accept becoming Naofumi's slave in order to be able to help the girl was even more of a shocker. Naofumi sure didn't believe it, nor would he until the slave seal was actually on the woman.

So while Naofumi, Raphtilia and Sadeena went to take care of that, and Firo, Azu and Rita got to know Midori, Shirou slipped off with Fohl and Atla into a rented room upstairs. "These are going to be your outfits for while you are accompanying me as the Sword Hero around town and during the Wave." Shirou explained, handing Fohl and Atla a pair of Shadow uniforms, as well as copies of the demihuman trait masking jewel he had gotten from David back in Siltvelt. "Remember, during the Wave, we aren't going to be participating directly. The three of us are going to circle the outside of the battlefield and take down monsters that try to flee the area and try to get as much EXP as we can, and contain the damage, while the other heroes take care of the rest."

"Understood." Atla said as she took the clothes.

"I don't get why you are being so secretive, but whatever." Fohl nodded, taking his as well.

"This country isn't exactly in a stable position. The man currently sitting on the throne is just a little shy of being a usurper and the Church of the Three Heroes is running the show. If we want to work with impunity, then keeping our identities separate is imperative." Shirou tried explaining.

"Understood." Atla said.

"I still don't get it." Fohl mumbled.

"Well, just trust me when I say that working with politicians and heroes is annoying. You remember how Motoyasu and Itsuki were." Shirou said with a sad smile.

"And you?"

"Onii-sama…" Atla said with a short sigh at her brother's behavior, though Shirou only chuckled and nodded.

"Now, the Wave is going to start in around a day, but there is one more thing we need to consider doing before the Wave starts." Shirou said, looking to Fohl. "Fohl, I think you should consider having your level reset."

"Ah, excuse me!?" Fohl half shouted.

Shirou wasn't surprised. Most people wouldn't willingly have all their hard work taken away from them. It had been Jian that had suggested resetting the boy's level at the Hourglass.

"The Wave we fought at back in Siltvelt gave us an unbelievable amount of EXP. Enough to raise Azu from level 5 all the way up to level 40 in just ten minutes, simply because of how many monsters there are. If you reset your level now, we might be able to get your level back up in just one shot, and with your sister currently at level 6, the two of your levels would be really close together. Otherwise, your strength is going to soon fall behind. If you compare how strong you are right now to how strong you would be if you have started your leveling under the influence of the Holy Sword, your stats would be doubled." Shirou explained. "With the number of Waves we are going to be fighting, you will soon reach that max level of yours. So wouldn't it be better to restart really quick and end up with double your strength at the end?"

"You talk about the Waves like they are free EXP." Fohl mumbled.

"For now, that's basically what they are. The Wave I saw in Siltvelt wasn't very dangerous if you have people there to contain it. There was a large number of monsters, but their overall power was low. Which is why I want to take this chance early on to increase our strength. I don't know why, but my gut is telling me that the real threat comes later." Shirou admitted. "I'm not going to force you to do this, but as a brother, I'm sure that you will want to do whatever it takes to be strong enough to be there for her."

Fohl glanced over at Atla before nodding. "Alright. I'll do it."

Shirou couldn't help but to smile and pat the boy's head, much to the kid's embarrassment. "I'll let you two change into your things. We'll be going to the castle once you are done."

"The castle, I thought we were going to get my level reset?" Fohl said with a frown.

"First rule of politics, when you work in town, you have to go out of your way to pat the ego of the biggest name around before you do your own business. It gives them the impression that you actual care what they think." Shirou explained.

"Do you?" Atla asked.

"No."

* * *

"So, the Sword Hero returns again." King Aultcray said with a slight smile.

He new damn while that the young man was only checking in with him out of formality. It's what he would have done back in his old days, before he had married into the Melromarc royal family. You bow the head so that they can't see you roll your eyes.

But that was what the King liked about the young man, because he reminded him of himself back in better times. Back before his sister's murder.

Aultcray had also been a pragmatic sort, making grand speeches and scenes not because he believed in them, but because the control over the flow of information and people's perception of him was so powerful.

…Though he wasn't that man anymore. The displays he put on and the actions he took, none of it was as convincing as it had been in the old days. He had lost the will to even pretend to be a hero anymore. He barely had what it took to sit on the chair in his wife's absence.

She was going to be so upset with him when she finally returned home.

"It is only natural to inform his Highness of my return. I wasn't expecting to be given a personal audience again. What with the Wave so quickly approaching, I am amazed that you have the time to waste on the likes of me?" Fugimaru said, his head still bowed.

Bullshit.

The kid knew damn well that all the preparations would have been done for weeks by this point. The only questions remaining were what kind of bird they would be serving at the victory feast. Half the nations army was already mobilized to cycle around key areas, prioritizing the lands with the greatest crop yields.

Still, it was still a nice change over the way that the Spear and Bow Heroes acted, not even doing him the service of a visit. Even when they were around, they never bowed their heads or showed any respect. If it weren't for the weapons in their hands, the two of them would have been eaten alive and shat out on the carpet by the political engine.

It might just happen anyways, given the rumors going about. No matter how hard the Church tried to squash it, someone had used a crystal orb to record the Hero of the Spear acting like a perverted slob towards an underaged child and nearly sparking a riot. It had made King Aultcray question his daughter's choice in heroes.

It was humiliating, though most people didn't actually care. Great men have unusual desires. The fact that many of the Nobles had little slave boys chained up in their basements was a well-known, if disgusting, secret. Most of the people who say the recording were more fascinated by the girl's performance at the beginning, rather than the Spear Hero's actions at the end. Aultcray wouldn't know. He hadn't seen the recording himself, just had it reported too him.

Though even this was preferable to the scene of the Hero of the Bow receiving a paddling in front of a large crowd of people, with the man doing it declaring the boy to be nothing more than a child playing make believe, instead of a real hero.

The only saving grace on that one was that so few of the people who had seen it actually knew what the Bow Hero looked like and he wasn't named in the short clip. Though after the party to celebrate the Heroes' victory was over…

Well, maintaining the public image of the Heroes was all the Church's problem anyways.

"Tell me, are these the fighters you have been training?" Aultcray asked, glancing over the two children that were behind the Sword Hero. The Hero must have caught on to his nickname as the Hero of Shadows, because the two were dressed from head to toe in the black garb of the Shadows. The King couldn't even accurately say whether they were boys or girls.

"No, these two are new recruits, though they are exceptionally talented. I believe that, like Your Highness, they stem from the Blood of Heroes. The rest of my group is continuing their training, as their assistance is not needed for this Wave, and coming would have only slowed their progress. I've brought these two along in order to train them against this early Wave." Fugimaru explained.

A compliment to Aultcray's bloodline, a subtle reminder that he was not the true ruler, and an arrogant boast. All of which only severed to distract from the fact that the young man was keeping his cards hidden and not showing his remaining party.

Interesting. Aultcray would have done the same if he had been in the boy's shoes... and if it had been around twenty years ago.

Normally, the Hero would eventually be forced into showing their party simply for the sake of Class Ups, but Aultcray didn't doubt that the other members of the Sword Hero's party had already Classed Up. Something normally considered impossible, but if it was this Sword Hero, then Aultcray was sure he would find a way. There were methods to do so that didn't include the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, though those secret methods were kept by the Black Market.

"So, you only see this coming Wave as a chance to do some training for your younger party?" Aultcray said, not able to stop himself from smiling. "You aren't just going to have your other party members hiding out of sight and participating in the battle without drawing any eyes?"

"Hm, that would be an interesting idea." Fugimaru said, not really denying or confirming it. "Though on the note of leveling my newest apprentices, I was hoping to ask of you a boon. I wish to have the level of one of these children reset before the coming battle."

Aultcray was taken aback by this request. "I see. Would you mind explaining your reasoning behind this?"

"…So long as you don't let it get beyond your ears, I do not mind. I'd hate to have opportunists knocking at my door." Fugimaru said after a short pause. "The Legendary Weapons possess several means of increasing the benefits of leveling for the Hero's party members. As such, for every 3 levels you gain under the influence, the stat increase is comparable to growing 5 levels under normal conditions. A level 60 becomes equal to a level 100. But the bonuses aren't retroactively applied. Since the boy had grown 30 levels before joining me, that is the loss of a normal 20 levels worth of stats. So his stats are only half what they could be."

Aultcray's jaw sagged a little as he struggled to keep his composure. Fucking hell, a level 100 would have stats equal to a hypothetical level 160. They would be stronger even then the Hakuko Clan's Old King at level 120 and with his Beast Transformation. No nation in the world would even be able to stand against them, save for perhaps the Star Heroes, if they all joined forces. And that was to hypothetically defeat one. A whole party of these kinds of people... He had not heard any such thing from his daughter. Did the Spear Hero not yet meet the conditions? Or perhaps he didn't know of the method at all.

Fugimaru had always seemed to value intelligence gathering more than the other Heroes. It was what made him more effective, as well as more dangerous.

"I see, you have my permission. I'll send word to the caretakers of the Hourglass at once to make preparations." Aultcray said, nodding to a messenger, who immediately dashed from the room.

Aultcray was wondering what left there was to talk about, when the 'advisor' from the Church spoke up. "Forgive me Hero-sama, I understand that etiquette might be different in the World you come from, however, for one to have his fast covered in front of their King is something that cannot be permitted."

The man lied. There was such an etiquette in this kingdom, but it didn't apply to people below a certain station. A few assistants like the children wouldn't be required to show their faces. It might even have been considered more appropriate to hide them. Still, Aultcray understood the move. If these people were going to gain so much power and work with the Legendary Hero, best to see their faces and know whether or not they are of the right sort. Knowing their identities might even give them a clue as to where the Sword Hero had been spending his time.

The Sword Hero probably knew it was a lie, but he would go along with it anyways. Better to do so than to show disobedience.

"Is that so. Forgive me, I was unaware. Sol, Aurora, please remove your masks." Fugimaru instructed the two. The two nodded and obeyed, removing their masks.

That was the time when Aultcray's mask of the King dropped and his heart skipped a beat. "Lucia." He mumbled, unable to help himself.

He started down at the face of a young girl with gentle features and long white hair as she looked up at him with bright blue eyes that's pupils didn't seem to match the light in the hall. Aultcray recognized the blindness for what it was in an instead. It was just like how his sister had looked at him.

…The girl looked almost exactly like her. She was… No, it couldn't have been. She was too young. Lucia had already been…

'…like Your Highness, they stem from the Blood of Heroes.'

That wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible.

"That King guy isn't looking so hot." The boy mumbled.

"Onii-sama, we weren't supposed to talk." His sister whispered to him in an... ever so familiar, reprimanding tone.

'Onii-sama...'

"Your Majesty, are you unwell?" The Church's man fretted, seeing the King's shocked face. Aultcray's mind had come crashing down on itself as too many thoughts and emotions warred within him, vying for his attention. His head began to throb uncontrollably.

"I… I…" The King couldn't even form a sentence. He couldn't think. He could hardly breath. His head felt like it was about to burst. The court guards panicked as the King collapsed in his seat and the royal physicians were called for.

One last thought entered the man's mind as he drifted into the darkness.

'What have I been doing?'

* * *

 **Atla's name is supposed to be Atlas, since Naofumi pointedly says when they meet that her name was what people call a map, and that it isn't a girl's name. For some reason, the translation later changed to Atla, probably because it sounds more feminine.**

 **But I decided to stick with the Greek name as a theme and had their fake IDs being Roman titans/gods.**

 **Sol is the Roman equivalent of Helios, and Aurora would be his sister (the equivalent to Eos)**

 **If any of you know something about Helios, you might remember that he had a bit of an obsession with his two sisters (Twin sister, Selene, and younger sister, Eos). So Shirou is making fun of Fohl without him knowing about it.**

* * *

 **If I occasionally make a mistake and say that Midori is a she instead of a he, forgive me. It's hard to keep track of traps. Originally I was just going to constantly refer to him as the gender neutral 'they' 'their' or 'them', but that was mentally taxing.**

* * *

 **I'm jumping in the car in the morning and won't be home for three weeks. So long.**


	35. Chapter 34

"What do you mean the price of Slaves has gone up!?" Naofumi half growled at the Slave Trader.

After Sadeena let herself receive a new slave seal, Naofumi turned his mind towards the possibility of getting another new party member, another level 1. With Sadeena and the three mercenaries joining up, the chances of keeping a fresh face safe during a Wave became actually realistic. With a description of the Waves being a rain of monsters, as many as 40 new monsters appearing every second, as well as Shirou's explanation of summoning sickness bringing otherwise level 30 monsters down to level 15 stats, without a decrease in EXP gained, the Wave sounded like the perfect place to easily raise levels.

With Naofumi's ability to gather a large number of enemies around him with his [Hate Reaction] skill, and the high DPS and AOE spells of the mercenaries and Sadeena, it wouldn't be hard for them to kill such numbers. Even if they split the monsters with the other party's heroes, they would still be making bank.

The average level 30 monster gave around 200 EXP * 10 monsters killed every second, that would be 2000 EXP every second that the Wave lasted. Even if divided between eight people, that was still a ridiculous amount of EXP.

He knew that once the Wave was over, the mercenaries would be moving on again, so he wanted to take as much advantage of them as humanly possible. After all, their stats weren't behind even Sadeena's, and she was a level 98! How did they grow so many levels since they had last seen each other anyways!? Without the bonuses from the Legendary Weapons boosting the EXP gain, they must have killed at least 100 times as many monsters worth of EXP as Naofumi's party had!

…Actually, giving the way they viewed a world class calamity as easy EXP, it really shouldn't have been that surprising. After all, Shirou had said that the spawn rate was 'ONLY' 20 ~ 50 monsters a second. That band of mercenaries was probably a monster's worst nightmare. A Devil's boogieman. Firo had mentioned how Shirou had exterminated an entire field of monsters in a single spell during the last Wave, killing enough monster to level Azu up from level 5 to level 40.

Fucking hell, and Naofumi was going to throw a Balloon at the guy!? Why did they even need the Legendary Heroes if people like him were just walking around!?

Still, he was hoping to use them to boost a new slave up into the level 20 range, making it easier for him to journey with them later. But at these prices!? A low-quality slave, the same as Raphtalia had been when they first met, was now priced at 550 silver coins! More that 25 time the original amount! And this was the black-market dealer! He'd hate to see what the legitimate slave market looked like!

…That said, it meant that Raphtalia and Sadeena, who were both considered top quality products, were now priced even higher… Not that he would.

"Please forgive me! There has been bad bad business back in Zeltbull! The less legal trades have come to almost a complete stop, yes!" The Slave Trader said, bowing before Naofumi as he begged for forgiveness. "My own family was hit bad. My uncle lost almost everything he owned. The entire family empire, gone. They even stole the clothes off his back. How incredibly villainous. My uncle must have angered a man whose disposition could only be matched by your own."

…Why did he sound so excited about that?

Wait, hadn't Shirou just been in Zeltbull for something? Yeah, Sadeena mentioned that he released a large number of slaves. Many of them had been from Raphtalia's village…

'Dammit Shirou! You ruined my chances at getting more slaves!'

But… The look of relief on Raphtalia's face as she heard about those who were now safe, the people who had been close as family to her. It got Naofumi thinking.

Sooner or later, the Waves would be done, and Naofumi would be returning to his old life, away from this accursed world, but Raphtalia would remain. Even after such a short time, he found himself uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her alone in such a horrible place, he saw her as something like a daughter.

Perhaps having Sadeena around, a woman willing to become a slave for her, would make things easier, but he wanted to be sure that she would be alright. Same went for Midori.

Perhaps he should consider setting aside a fund and look into getting a place for them to stay at once this was all over. A place where she wouldn't have to deal with evil trash like they had at the castle. The mining village had been a nice enough place. Naofumi only had about 8 gold coins set aside at the moment, but there was still time, so if he was frugal…

"Keel-kun?" Raphtalia said, drawing Naofumi's attention to a nearby cage, one containing what looked to be a ten-year-old, dog-type, Demihuman boy. His face was practically dead, and he was way too thin. He might have been just a little taller than the Raphtalia had been at first, though now she towered over him. Poor kid looked even worse than Raphtalia had. "You're Keel-kun, aren't you?"

"…Who are you? Why do you know my name?" The boy asked. His voice was a little on the dead side, but he didn't sound horse, so he had likely been given water and there was crumbs of bread around his cage, so he was being fed. Likely, his condition was from whatever residences had last owned him, rather than the Slave Trader's neglect.

Raphtalia had also been bought by someone before Naofumi. They had tried to train her to be a maid, but had given up because of her trembling, her nightmares and her eventual sickness, so they had sold her back. Keel looked as though he was put to less appealing use and then sold back more as a product of the value of slaves increasing.

"You forgot my face? I might have gotten a bit bigger, but I'm Raphtalia." Raphtalia said, putting her hands on her knees and bending down to eye level with the boy.

"Eh!?" Keel half shouted in astonishment before narrowing his eyes. "That's a lie. The Raphtalia-chan I knew was smaller than me, and she isn't as beautiful as you. Though she was kinda cute…"

Raphtalia frowned at the boy's comment, before smiling. "Then I'll prove to you I'm the real thing. Two months before the Wave happened, you were looking for a pretty shell to give Father for his birthday, so you dove into the ocean. You almost drowned, so Sadeena-nee-san jumped in to rescue you and together, you…"

"…Eh!? Are you really… Raphtalia-chan?" Keel said quickly, interrupting her story.

"That's right, and after that, remember when you accidentally ate a poison mushroom you found in the field, messed up your stomach, and hid to avoid being scolded? You told me to keep it a secret when I found you. You had even wet your pa…"

"Wait! Yes! I believe you! You're Raphtalia-chan." Keel said, quickly interrupting her before she could get any further in the embarrassing story. He then stopped and looked at Raphtalia in wonder. "Raphtalia-chan. Why did you become so big… so pretty?"

"…I am currently the slave of the Hero of the Shield. Even though he has a bit of an evil face, he is really a good person and has taken good care of me." Raphtalia told the boy as she glanced towards Naofumi, a pleading look in her eyes.

Naofumi glanced from Raphtalia to the boy in the cage. Keel's eyes were full of mistrust, fear, and even rebellion. They promised nothing but trouble… but…

"…How much for that one?" Naofumi asked the slave dealer.

"Ah, keeping together family units in order to better motivate them into working themselves to the bone. The Shield really is a Master of Slaves." The Slave Trader said.

"Shut up and get to the haggling." Naofumi growled at the man. "And don't try anything stupid, or I'll find other ways of getting what I need."

"Yessir!" The Slave Trader said cheerfully before the haggling began.

Naofumi managed to argue the price down from 700 silver coins down to 525 by citing the boy's poor health and obvious rebellious nature. He might have been able to get the price lower, but the Slave Trader sweetened the deal for him by throwing in a cheap Filolial egg that was a few hours from hatching, and a certain item that destroyed any resistance Naofumi had left.

Raphtalia looked at Naofumi with disappointment as he laughed, watching the oracle stone playing a short vid of Shirou giving the Bow Hero a spanking going in loop. The look of pain in the young man's eyes as the glowing hand struck his rear again and again, as if smiting it with holy power.

The man really was a Saint.

And so, Naofumi got his fourth party member, as well as an egg containing his fifth. Though with the state of the slave boy, it was questionable if he would be healthy enough to be around the battlefield, even if he was protected. A baby chick was small enough to be kept out of the way, but the boy would need constant guarding, which in itself meant being moved rapidly about. Naofumi would give him the food and medicine he could, but it might not be enough, with how short time was.

While Keel was rather rebellious, Naofumi didn't mind too much. After two weeks of being alone with Raphtalia and Midori, he'd be willing to put up with a little attitude to have a nongender-confused male around… why was Sadeena laughing?

* * *

"I'm going to have a little brother or sister?" Midori said with a bit of amazement as Naofumi let the child carry around the discount egg. After Naofumi swung by the inn to leave the half-starved Keel to eat and rest while he regained a little strength, Midori joined the main group for going to have a look at the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era.

According to Shirou, if Naofumi didn't synchronize with it, then he wouldn't be teleported to the Wave.

While this didn't really sound like a bad thing, if he tried to run away from the Waves, the nations of this shitty world would use it as an excuse to kill him. They were just waiting for a good enough reason, going so far as to be willing to make one up.

He could have just gone alone, but Raphtalia had wanted to see the Hourglass, and Midori wanted to slip away from Firo. It seemed that even though they were both Royal Filolials, Firo was of a higher class, being recognized by the Queen of all Filolials.

If put in human terms, Midori would be a hereditary baron, while Firo was the next in line for the throne. Noble he may be, but he was without territory or followers, he didn't even have his own carriage, which was apparently very embarrassing for a Filolial. She was in a completely different social bracket. It left Midori feeling slightly intimidated by the happy blond. Especially as Firo declared Midori to be one of her minions, whether he wanted to be or not.

"Yeah, you're going to be an older sibling, so make sure to be a good role model and don't teach them anything weird." Naofumi said, though he wasn't really paying attention. He was still trying to work through the two new systems he had just unlocked, Status Enchantment and Jobs.

The fact that he had been trading all of the spare resources he had for money came back to bite him in the ass, as both required spare resources. He focused on the Job system, as it was the thing that would require time to level as well as resources, and as such was the better thing to start early on.

He needed more materials to scrap, but he didn't dare convert any of his stockpile of food. Not with feeding Keel and the new Filolial on the horizon. Raphtalia's growth period might have come to an end, but that didn't matter if he was replacing one big eater with two more.

"Don't worry, I'll be the best Onee-chan ever, and teach them everything they need to know to be of use to Naofumi-sama!" Midori said, which Naofumi pointedly chose to ignore, for the sake of his sanity.

The cathedral pissed him off. The way the nuns and priests all looked at him as if he was a worthless piece of shit. Even the random bastards he passed on the street didn't give him such nasty looks. Worse, they were looking at Raphtalia and Midori with those same expressions. They're fucking kids, you assholes. What did they ever do to you?

He wondered if he could use [Hate Reaction] on them all in order to get them to attack him, then turn around and claim self-defense when he killed them all. It was so damn tempting to try, but that was the Cursed Series talking. As much of bastards as these people were, they were not the objects of Naofumi's hate. He had decided that he would not unleash his hate against everyone he met, if only for self-preservation reasons. Piss off the wrong guy and you could end up dead quickly. Shirou had taught him that lesson.

Still, when he made his reason for being there clear, they led him towards the hourglass without vocal complaints.

He'd say that the best way to describe the hourglass was 'huge', fifty, maybe even sixty feet tall with several different chambers containing red sand. Golden metal was wrapped around the glass, with a scaly pattern etched into it. It was an impressive sight.

00:20:12

"Twenty hours. Twenty hours until the start of the wave." Naofumi mumbled as his Shield synchronized with the giant hourglass.

The Wave was coming. The first of many. Was Naofumi really ready for this? Shirou had given him a description of what fighting a Wave was like and told him not to worry, but those people had a weird perception of danger. It was also an earlier Wave. They got harder as time went by, didn't they? This was his life on the line, and not just his, but Midori and Raphtalia's as well.

He shouldn't have synchronized with the Hourglass. He should have just ran for the hills and tried to find a way to hide out. What was he thinking?

"Huh? Isn't that Naofumi over there?" The mere sound of his voice made Naofumi twitch and his rage and hatred come to a boil. The site of Motoyasu and his harem also didn't help matters, the way the girls were clinging to him. There were five of them, each clustered around the stupid bastard, and among them was… her.

Hate. HATE. HATE!

He wanted to kill them. He wanted to kill them all!

…No. The timing wasn't right. Hate Motoyasu he might, but the bastard could still be of use during the Wave, and with all the witnesses around, he would become a wanted man for sure. He wasn't even sure if he could take Motoyasu and his party in a straight fight. Naofumi wouldn't jeopardize his own survival or that of his party for the sake of vengeance.

He'd wait. Buy his time until he found Motoyasu and his party alone, out in the field. That would be when he would get him back.

"Did you also come here in preparation for the wave?" Motoyasu asked Naofumi as he got closer, looking the Shield Hero up and down.

'Preparation for the wave? What did preparation have to do with coming to the Hourglass?' Naofumi wondered. He knew he should fish for information, for anything that could be valuable, but the look on the bastard's face made him unwilling to even open his mouth.

"What the hell, man. Are you planning on fighting with equipment of that level? It makes you look like a common bandit." The man said as he looked over Naofumi's Barbarian Armor.

'FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!' It was this bastard's fault. It was because of him and that evil bitch that Naofumi had been thrown out onto the streets in nothing but a pair of underwear. Even the Barbarian Armor had been an investment, and he knew that Oyaji had given him a major discount on it.

Yeah, it looked like something a cheesy midboss might wear, but its defense was just as good as the chainmail he had bought. It covered everything it needed to and didn't limit his mobility. It was armor that Naofumi wouldn't feel ashamed of… if it wasn't for what Motoyasu was wearing.

Motoyasu's gear was vastly different from a month ago, one can tell how high-leveled he was with a single glance at his equipment. It wasn't iron-based, but a shiny armor made from silver. He wore a red cloth underneath which emitted a beautiful pale green tint, most likely due to the extra effects blessed by those clothes. Not only that, but there was the layer of chainmail worn in between those two. Seemed like Motoyasu had spent quite a bit on his armor set.

Even with the Steel Blade Shield, Naofumi doubted he could cut it.

The Shield was supposed to be easy early game and fall off hard later as defense was overtaken by insane damage scaling, but what was the point when armor wasn't restricted like weapons were, so the other heroes could just stack up powerful armor and have stupid defense themselves.

It was no wonder Motoyasu and Itsuki had looked down on him.

Bastards.

Naofumi just ignored Motoyasu's insults. That would have been easier if the man's damn pep squad would have just shut up. Stupid bitches yelled at him to acknowledge his betters. The Queen of the Bitches even stuck her tongue out at Naofumi.

…Someday, he would kill that bitch.

"Naofumi-sama, who are these people?" Raphtalia asked, glancing over the group with an uncomfortable scowl.

"That would be the Spear Hero and his entourage." Sadeena said, saving Naofumi the breath required for introductions. "I saw him will traveling with Shirou. Be careful around him, he supposedly approached Firo with… bad intentions."

"I…I did not!" Motoyasu said. "It was just a misunderstanding! I was never going to touch anyone! I'm not Naofumi!"

"He wanted to do something bad to Princess Firo?" Midori gasped in surprise.

"I wasn't!" Motoyasu said before he laid eyes on Midori and a flush spread across his face. "Another Moe Angel girl. So cute."

"H…Huh?" Midori squeaked, backing up as Motoyasu came closer, completely forgetting about his harem who all looked at his back with looks of embarrassment, anger or jealousy.

"Please tell me your name." Motoyasu asked Midori.

"…Midori." Midori said nervously.

"Midori-chan, what a beautiful name." Motoyasu said with a disgusting look on his face.

…Naofumi started to laugh. "I didn't realize you were into little boys, Motoyasu." He said between gasps for breath.

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Motoyasu said, glaring at the Shield Hero.

"Do I need to spell it out for you? That's a boy." Naofumi said, pointing a thumb at Midori.

"Wha? Damn you, Naofumi! How dare you say such a thing about such a cute girl!?" Motoyasu said, glaring at Naofumi, then he turned back to Midori. "You poor thing, having to spend time with just an evil brute."

"…Don't say things like that about Naofumi-sama." Midori said, scowling at Motoyasu.

"Huh? Why are you defending a person like him? Don't you know that he's a crimina…" Before Motoyasu could finish that sentence, Midori spat at him.

The small green glob of acid landed on the man's forehead and quickly began to smoke, earning a scream of panic from the guy, and another round of laughter from Naofumi. "Careful, he spits poison whenever he gets mad." Giving Midori a pat on the head. "Feel free to spit at him whenever you see him."

"Alright." Midori said with a smile, happy to be praised by his master.

"Naofumi-sama, don't say such weird things!" Raphtalia objected, not that Naofumi cared. Raphtalia didn't understand, how of all the people in the world, this bastard deserved it.

"You bastard, how dare you make Midori-chan do something like that." Motoyasu said, as he wiped away the glob of poison on his sleeve, leaving only a slight burn on his forehead where the acid had hit him.

"I didn't make him do anything. Midori decided to do that on his own." Naofumi said with a shrug. The idiot didn't seem to be listening as he was raising his spear, saying something about freeing the girl from Naofumi's clutches before he could hurt her innocents, ignoring how Midori was clutching himself to Naofumi and trying to stay away from the guy.

Both his party and the surrounding nuns and priests were in a panic at the idea of two heroes duking it out in the middle of the sacred building. What kind of consequences would there be to destroying something like the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era? Probably more than Naofumi wanted to deal with.

"If you are this determined, I suppose you leave me no choice. Just remember that you were the one who made me do this, Motoyasu." Naofumi said as the Spear Hero prepared to attack. Then in one swift motion, he grabbed the bottom of Midori's dress and lifted it up.

Motoyasu paused in shock, his brain slow to process what he was seeing, but once it did he was backpaddling towards the far wall. "…AH! IT'S A TRAP!"

"Oh my god, is that a penis!" "It's gigantic!" "I've never seen one that big before."

"Don't say that!" Midori cried, quickly pushing down his dress and burying his face in one of his sleeves, so that he could hide himself without letting go of the Filolial egg.

Naofumi couldn't help but to laugh at Motoyasu's reaction.

"Naofumi-sama, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't shame Midori-chan like that anymore. You know how he gets." Raphtalia said as she went to comfort the crossdressing monster.

Technically, Naofumi only agreed that the boy was useful enough to not sell him just because of his strange quirks. Even though selling the boy would have resulted in enough money to buy a dozen new eggs as well as some good quality equipment. But as he saw the little boygirl with tears in his eyes, guilt slowly seeped into Naofumi's heart and he stopped laughing.

Troublesome as Midori was, Midori belonged to him and he had a soft spot for the confused little boy. "Hey, I'm sorry I laughed, but if I hadn't done that, that perverted bastard over there would have never left you alone. Isn't that right, Motoyasu?" Naofumi said as he patted the monster on the head. Midori moved the arm out of the way of his face and stared over at Motoyasu with teary, puppy dog eyes.

"…Why boner? Why?" Motoyasu mumbled, as he cried in his own depression.

"That means yes." Naofumi translated for Midori.

"Oh, Motoyasu-san and... Naofumi-san." Naofumi turned his head to see that Itsuki had walked in on them.

What were they doing at the Hourglass anyways? Hadn't they already synchronized with it? The only reason Naofumi was so damn late was because no one had told him about it. Was there something else that could be done with the Hourglass that he didn't know about?

Well, considering the disapproval in Itsuki's voice as the self-righteous little shit even mentioned Naofumi's name, he doubted he'd get the truth out of him. He was too 'sickened' by the sight of Naofumi to even keep on his 'good boy' mask.

Besides, the Shield Hero was too busy laughing to ask questions.

"What is so funny?" Itsuki asked coldly.

"This is." Naofumi said, lifting up his Shield and turning it onto the Oracle Shield form and letting it play the stored recording.

 ** _'If you are going to insist on acting like a child, then you will be treated as one.'_**

Itsuki paled as Shirou's voice echoed in the tower, quickly followed by a repeated smacking sound. At the sight of it, several people in the room started to whisper in shocked horror, holding their little holy symbols and whispering words against evil.

Only Naofumi and Motoyasu seemed to find it funny. Though the two of them couldn't stop laughing.

"Oh my god, is that Oyaji? What the hell did you do to piss him off that bad?" Motoyasu said through tears of laughter. "I mean, he was such a chill guy. Sure he beat my ass for looking at his daughter, but not literally."

So he admits to having looked at Firo. Perverted creep. Why did he call Shirou Oyaji? …Holy shit, Shirou was an Oyaji.

"S…Shut up. Didn't you see the kind of equipment his party uses? He is clearly a late game optional boss that can be challenged in order to get extremely high-quality gear." Itsuki said angrily. "I was just ill prepared when I stumbled upon him."

…Optional boss? Was this guy really so delusional that he was trying to imply videogame story logic to this world? …Naofumi was starting to see what Shirou's problem with the kid must have been.

"Oyaji, an optional boss? No way." Motoyasu said with a shake of the head. "Yeah, I saw the equipment, but Oyaji is no optional boss fight. He's more like this world's equivalent of Master Roshi. An extremely strong fighter who teaches the Heroes humility early on before showing them new ways of becoming stronger. Then the Heroes look even stronger later on once they finally surpass him."

…That one sounded basically right. Though Naofumi was still concerned about the level of 'story' logic in it. Also, Master Roshi? That sounded like wishful thinking on the part of the pervert.

Itsuki and Motoyasu continued to argue among themselves, with Itsuki making the ridiculous claim that Shirou was somehow evil, until a voice stopped them.

"Don't you three have anything better to do than waste time here like this?" Naofumi paused as tough looking guy walked into the room followed by two kids dressed as ninjas.

"Issei." Naofumi said, looking the man up and down.

Damn, he had thought that Issei would have been having a hard time, given that he lacked knowledge of the world, just like he did, and was too cautious to take handouts. But the guy was dressed in heavy bronze and gold armor that looked really powerful. The Legendary Holy Sword was on his back, but in a new form, looking like a giant cutlass with bronze decorations along the sides to give it the appearance of a wing. If Motoyasu looked like a knight in shining armor, then Issei was some kind of High Paladin who would stand on one end of a bridge, sword draw, while an entire army rushed towards him. Did he always have such hard eyes?

"Hey, you're here too, you know." Motoyasu said crossing his arms.

"Yes, but I'm here for a reason, not to play around." Issei said before glancing towards the nun who was escorting him. "How long until the ceremony to reset the boy's level is ready?"

"It can be done immediately, Sword-sama." The woman replied. Itsuki and Motoyasu looked stunned.

"Why would you reset one of your party member's levels?" Itsuki asked with a look of suspicion.

"Because he didn't come to me at level one, and the effects of the Companion Series Weapons aren't applied retroactively. Better to reset them now so he can gain the full effects." Issei said as he walked past the other heroes towards the Hourglass.

"Companion Series?" Motoyasu repeated with a frown.

"It's a weapon series that increases the effectiveness of level ups for a hero's companions. At its highest level, it is around a 66% increase to stat gains." Naofumi said, taking a little pleasure in knowing something that they didn't.

"What!? No such Series exists!" Itsuki objected, though Motoyasu didn't seem so quick to reject the idea.

"What do you need to unlock it?" The Spear Hero asked.

"All you need is to share a true connection to one of your companions. Though I suppose absorbing the person's hair would help speed the process along." Issei said with a shrug.

Motoyasu was quick to try it out, but when he absorbed the hair of that bitch, Myne, nothing happened. Same went for the rest of them. "Huh, why isn't it working?" Motoyasu said, confused.

"I guess the bond between you isn't true then. Either they don't care about you, or you don't really care about them." Issei said with a provoking smile. "Surrounded by women, but none of them really love you. Now that's just sad."

'HAH! The Whores never loved you.' Naofumi laughed on the inside.

"What did you say!?" Motoyasu growled and approached Issei in an aggressive manner. Only for one of the two ninjas to step in the way.

The little ninja's hand glowed with a shiny white light and they slammed it straight into the Spear Hero's stomach. Motoyasu gasped as he stumbled backwards and Naofumi's jaw dropped a little in surprise. The fancy armor that the Spear Hero had been wearing crumbled away as the man fell to his knees, gasping in pain. A hole the size of the childs fist was in all three layers of armor, which glowed slowly as the auto repair attempted to fix the damage.

"You will not touch our Lord." The ninja, a girl, said in the manner that spoke of absolute loyalty, even worship. The Spear Idiot's fangirls all gathered around him as he struggled to regain his footing.

"Aurora, we've been over this. I don't need you to protect me." Issei said to the girl as she lowered her hand.

"Forgive me, Sword-sama." The little ninja girl said with a bow of the head. That light around her hand. It was a lot like what Shirou had done in the recording from when he had spanked Itsuki.

"Oh, which one of you girls is the Princess Malty? The one that the Shield Hero raped?" Issei asked Motoyasu's group of fangirls.

Naofumi's face twitched as he heard those words. He barely registered the word 'Princess'.

"I am." The redheaded bitch said a little nervously.

"The Princess should return to the castle. His Highness, the King, seems to have had a stroke." Issei informed the girl.

"What!?" Malty gasped before looking between Motoyasu and the door until the Hero waved his hand in order to signal her to go.

"I'll catch up." Motoyasu said as he took his first few steps, only to go back to one knee again.

Seriously, how hard did that ninja girl hit him?

Princess Bitch ran off with one of the other fangirls as the others helped Motoyasu to limp from the room. The second ninja, the boy, went up to the Hourglass and started to undergo whatever process it was to reset his level. Meanwhile, Naofumi took his chance to approach the Sword Hero.

"Hey Issei." Naofumi said, to get his attention.

"What is it?" Issei asked with a sideways glance… a look that Naofumi really didn't like.

"I was hoping that the two of us might be able to trade notes about this world." The Shield Hero said, trying to push through.

"…And why would I associate myself with someone like you?" Issei asked after a moment's pause.

"Wha…?" Naofumi was stunned before getting angry. "Hey, I never touched that lying bitch!"

"Yes, I know, but that really doesn't matter." Issei said, stealing the wind out of Naofumi's sails. "I could care less whether you are innocent or guilty. I am only concerned with my own survival, and the simple fact of the matter is that no information you could offer me would be worth making an enemy of not only the Royal Family, but of the Church of the 'Three' Heroes."

"Church of the Three Heroes?" Itsuki said, having been listening in.

"Oh, you didn't know? In this Country, the Church teaches that three of the four people who are summoned to deal with the Waves of Calamity are Heroes, while the fourth is a Demon in disguise." Issei said with a shrug. "In order for the Church to maintain power in this nation, one of us needed to be the Devil himself. Naofumi just happened to be the unlucky soul to be summoned with the Legendary Shield."

"So… that's it." Naofumi growled, his arms trembling. "That's the reason I have to put up with all this bullshit! Because of some rotten religious garbage! And you don't even care that I'm innocent!?"

"Like I said. It's not my problem." Issei said as the ninja boy returned. Then, with his companions, he turned to leave.

Naofumi's eyes turned to Itsuki. "What about you? Do you care are all that I didn't do it?"

Itsuki fidgeted before turning and walking away. "Issei is just a conspiracy nutjob. What he said doesn't prove anything."

Naofumi couldn't stop shaking.

Hate. Hate! HATE! HATE!

He hated them all. He hated everything! This damn world should BURN!

"Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia said. She and Midori had grabbed onto Naofumi in a hug, pulling him back. His breathes began to slow and became more steady as they helped to ground him. He soon regained control.

"Sorry." Naofumi mumbled to Raphtalia and Midori as his mind tried to work things out.

Issei was not going to be an ally. Even though he knew Naofumi was innocent, that didn't matter to him. He was like the evil parallel universe version of Shirou, where it didn't matter if Naofumi was innocent or guilty, he would only focus on his own survival. And Itsuki was no better.

Truth was, this didn't change much. Naofumi still needed to participate in the Waves, and he still needed to become stronger. Only know he knew that the entire country really was against him, and why. "We need to become stronger." He said with resolve. He'd ask Shirou for anything that could help. Beg if he had to. He needed to be strong enough to survive this world. He refused to die here, and he refused to let Raphtalia or Midori die either.

"If that is the case, then I should probably have my level reset as well." Sadeena said looking towards the Hourglass.

"What?" Raphtalia gasped at the suggestion.

"Don't be so surprised. While I am level 98, my stats are only as good as they would be at level 60 with Naofumi-sama's help. Leveling back up won't be that hard, so long as we go down to the coastline so I can hunt in the ocean." Sadeena said with a shrug. "My race is unparalleled in the ocean, and there are a lot of good monsters to hunt there for EXP."

"…Maybe, but shouldn't we wait until after the Wave. I don't want you to be useless there." Naofumi said.

"Is that so." Sadeena said with a smile. "I guide the power of lightning, and desire embodiment. Earth veins. Give me power. Shock Wave!" People jumped as a current of electricity arced from the woman's hand and blackened a patch of wall. The power was impressive. "That spell is from a type of magical called the 'Dragon Pulse Order'. It takes almost no MP and the power of it is unrelated to the user's level. Even if I was a level 1, I could still throw those spells around. So I'd say I would still be very useful to you, Naofumi-sama."

"…If you're sure then. Just know that it is your choice." Naofumi said with a nod, impressed by the power.

It would be a temporary setback to them but would help out in the long run. That was what Naofumi needed to be concerned about, the long run. They would survive this Wave, and then the next, and the one after that. They would survive until the very end.

* * *

When Naofumi returned to the inn, ready to get down on his knees if necessary, he was met with a very… unexpected sight.

"This wouldn't happen to be yours, would it?" Shirou said in an unamused voice, eyebrow twitching, as Keel appeared to be trying to gnaw his arm off, with very little luck. A low growl was rumbling in the half dead boy's throat, and he had determination in his eyes.

"…Sit boy!"

*Thud!*

* * *

 **EVERYONE! STOP TELLING ME TO NOT MAKE NAOFUMI OUT TO BE A HERO! I'M NOT!**

 **If any of you actually read what I have wrote you would find that Shirou knows that Naofumi is only doing things out of self-interest, but accepts that the man really has no choice and to stop him would be to sign Naofumi's death warrant as well as jeopardize the world. Helping Naofumi is helping everyone out, even if the guy is an ass, and he isn't even close to the worst ass that Shirou has dealt with.**

 **Naofumi himself admits several times that he is a horrible person and that if given the option, he would leave everyone to die. Knowing about the Cursed Series and how it effects his personality, he said he was better off with it, because the old him was a idiot who would have ended up dead.**

 **After Raphtalia accepts him, he actually cares about her, and only her (and Oyaji). That is how Naofumi is. He only cares about the people who are of use to him and have meaning to him. But he actually does care about them.**

 **An example of this being that throughout this chapter, he ignores Sadeena and her feeling and how people are treating her, even though she is there too, because she is not one of the people he cares about yet.**

* * *

 **So Naofumi is going to have a second Filolial. So who will it be? Sakura or Kuro? Poll is up on my profile.**

 **For those of you who don't know, Kuro is another Filolial King that dresses like a girl, while Sakura is a slightly more physically mature Filolial (still acts childish) that uses weapons.**

 **If Kuro is chosen, I might change his name a little so that if Chloe shows up (very big if), things won't get too confusing.**

* * *

 **In the Webnovel, they don't find Keel in a creepy man's basement, he was at the Slave Trader's. Which is what I am choosing to go with.**

 **Because lets be honest, you don't find slaves chained to a wall in a creepy man's basement. Illegal slaves aren't exactly expensive in Melromarc, but they aren't cheap enough to do something like that. Its just stupid. They were only trying to find an easy why to make the guy hateable.**

 **Also in the WN, Raphtalia was being set up to become a maid, but had issues and was sent back, rather than being... whatever the hell she was in the LN/Manga/Anime version**

 **Sorry to anyone who prefers that version of events, I just like it when my slaves are slaves (forced to work) rather than being ridiculously over victimized in ways that don't make sense.**

* * *

 **Someone not so kindly asked if Shirou could use the Body of Steel to use a defense ignoring weapon as part of his body.**

 **Short answer, yes.**

 **Long answer, yes, BUT there are drawbacks. Body of Steel changes part of Shirou's body into a weapon, which damages the body part a lot a lot. And using a blade that cuts through anything inside of his arm would do some real self harm. This was something that was mentioned the first time that the method for getting around the Legendary Weapon rules came up. Back in chapter 8 or 9 or something.**

 **Shirou won't have used Body of Steel against the Griffins if he had another option for killing them. He is only more open to it at all because of the effectiveness of potions and Jian enhancing his recovery time.**

 **It is still not a good option for prolonged battles and is only useful in fights as a last resort, or a finisher. If he doesn't have time to recover after using it, he has basically heavily damaged one of his limbs and screwed himself.**


	36. Chapter 35

"This is why I'm a cat person." Shirou grumbled. The dog brat's teeth hadn't hurt him in the slightest, but the annoyance of being bitten for no damn reason was enough to put him in a bad mood. And now the little shit was eating his food and acting as if nothing ever happened.

"Sorry about that. It wouldn't ever happen again. I promise." Naofumi said, looking a little nervous about the ordeal.

Shirou could only sigh and trying to put it out of his mind. "Forget it. I've never gotten along with dogs." Shirou said, rubbing his temple. "Since you are actually being apologetic for once, I'm guessing there is something you want out of me. So, what is it? I'd rather not beat around the bush."

"…Alright. I want your help in becoming stronger." Naofumi said, lifting up his Shield which transformed into a large plate with a crystal ball logged inside of it. Shirou would admit to being surprised when a sort of hologram appeared above the Shield, depicting Atla in her ninja clothes punching Motoyasu, using her technique to 'break' his armor and induce extreme pain. "Sadeena says that you know this technique. Something called the Peerless Transformation Style."

For a moment, Shirou wondered if the Shield had figured him out, but it didn't seem like it.

"I told her that I don't actually know anything about the Peerless Transformation Style. She's the one that thinks that it and my style of magic are connected." Shirou said with a sigh. "I can't say for sure, it could just be something that looks similar, but I think I know that attack."

Reaching over, Shirou put one hand on Naofumi's Shield, before sending a blast of Od through it and into his arm. The net result was nothing more than a serious stinging sensation for Naofumi, though it still made him pull his arm back in shock. "What the hell was that?"

"It's nothing really. I just sent my Od, a form of magical energy, into your body and had it attack you from the inside. It's a method for attacking around someone's defense stat." Shirou informed the Shield Hero, whose eyes widened. "Before you ask, there is no way for you to learn to use it effectively."

"Why not?" Naofumi asked.

"Od is a form of magical energy created by mixing Mana and Lifeforce inside of a naturally occurring magical organ called Magic Circuits, which exist within the body. I am a magus, and my style of magic, Magecraft, uses this energy." Shirou explained. "Other worlders, like yourself, have been recorded as having narrow Magic Circuits. Too narrow to use this technique. When I shocked you right there, I also checked your magic circuits. From just a quick check I found twelve dormant circuits of about average quality. All of them are too narrow to expel Od at the rates needed to effectively use that attack."

"Is that so." Naofumi said, clearly disappointed. "That's just great. Defense is the only thing I have, and there is an unblockable technique that renders it useless. Not only that, I can't even use this Od stuff."

"…I wouldn't say it's unblockable. In fact, if you know how to ward it off, the technique becomes almost useless. Though it will still rip normal armor to shreds, as you witnessed, if your target has a high internal magic resistance, or is cycling their own Od, the attack will do nothing at all. The blow that the Spear Hero took would have only made me feel a little motion sick, at the worst." Shirou said with a shrug. "And as for Od being useless to you… I'd say it is probably much more valuable than normal magic. You will probably want to learn it eventually."

"And why is that?" Naofumi asked, regaining interest.

"According to old records kept by my family, the Heroes of old were able to mix Od with their own unique energy, something called 'SP', in order to boost the effectiveness of their Legendary Weapons' 'Skills'. Something along the lines of doubling their strength." Shirou said, trying to fane as much ignorance as possible.

"Doubling." Naofumi said, swallowing hard. The Skills of the Legendary Weapons were a lot more effective than normal magic, not only in cast time but in raw power. While there were doubtless spells that could compete, the cost of such spells would be enormous, and they would be difficult to learn at all. It would be like comparing normal Magecraft to Shirou's traced Noble Phantasms. Sure spells that could match Caladbolg did technically exist, but you better be a damn Magician if you are planning on actually using them.

For Naofumi to learn how to double his Skills' power would be the equivalent of Shirou learning to trace perfect, undegraded copies of his weapons.

"Alright, so how do I learn it?" Naofumi asked. Shirou opened his mouth before stopping, considering his option and closing it again. "What, what is it?"

"…I shouldn't be teaching you this." Shirou mumbled, surprising Naofumi.

There were so many reasons not to awaken Naofumi's Od that it was laughable.

The first one to come to mind was the fact that he wouldn't be around to oversee the man's training. Magecraft was an unforgiving art and a single mistake would mean death. Shirou himself, but all rights, should have been dead a hundred times over. The only thing that saved him from his own stupidity while he was first exploring Magecraft was Avalon's healing properties. Just wakening Naofumi's Od and letting the guy run wild could spell death for him.

Then there was Naofumi himself. He was clearly under the Curse of Wrath, and while he was better than he had been before, he could still be a dangerous individual towards the general public. Boosting the effectiveness of his Skills, Skills that Shirou had never actually seen before and didn't know the properties of, could result in him causing a lot of damage. If he had something of the magnitude of Motoyasu's [Meteor Spear], then he might just blast the entire castle out of spit.

And in the not entirely unlikely event of Naofumi going off the deep end, having something like Atla's defense ignoring technique to easily deal with his defense was comforting.

Teaching him was a bad idea… so why was Shirou considering it?

Curiosity?

Was he curious about just how far this Shield Hero could go? About what made him different from the ordinary man? Whether it was his own, or the Shield making him that way, he had a level of natural instinct and problem-solving skills that were rare to see.

There had also been that smile. That smile on his face the moment Raphtalia had turned down Rule Breaker. It was that same smile that Shirou's father had given him. The smile of a drowning man being allowed that last chance to breathe.

He might not trust Naofumi, but he trusted that smile and what it meant.

"Raphtalia, Midori. Would you two come here for a moment?" Shirou said, as he drew out a piece of paper and a pen from Jian's subspace and started to slowly jot down notes.

"Is something the matter, Shirou-sama?" Raphtalia asked as she approached with Midori at her side.

"Naofumi-san has asked me to open up his 'magic circuits' so that he can use my type of magical energy. This is extremely dangerous, so I normally wouldn't even consider doing so without being around to instruct him afterwards. However, I believe that it is important." Shirou explained to them as he continued to write… Damn he was slow writing in this world's language. How was this sentence supposed to be structured again? "I am going to leave you two with very explicate instructions on his training. Do not under any circumstances allow him to deviate from it or try to experiment with the new power. Not until we see each other again and I give the all clear. I can't stress enough how dangerous it would be for him to try to proceed on his own."

"A…alright." Raphtalia agreed with a nod of her head, though the concern was clear in her eyes. She was a good girl. Shirou would have to trust that.

"I also what you two to promise me that you will stop Naofumi if he ever looks like he is about to go down a dark path." Shirou said calmly.

"Say what?" Naofumi stuttered in disbelief.

"You aren't a divine prophet, or an embodiment of justice. You are a mortal man, just like the rest of us, and you don't even want to be a hero. At this point, the only thing you are concerned with keeping your head down and surviving. All else is secondary. Does that sound about right?" Shirou said, summarizing Naofumi's personality. The man just nodded his acknowledgement, though he didn't look happy with Shirou about it. "I'm not judging you. Hell, after that stupid brat Itsuki, I'm willing to count not wanting to be a hero as a virtue. For right now, I trust your desire to survive to keep you from doing anything stupid, but once your defense gets so high that you start to lose that fear, I want these two to act as your moral compass."

"Okay, we'll try." Midori said, nodding his head. "Though Naofumi doesn't really listen to us all the time."

"I think you will find that you two have a lot more power over him than he has over you." Shirou said with a smile. "I don't think he bought that mangy dog over there because he thought that it would be a valuable member of the party."

"Hey, I didn't do it for charity, I expect him to work off every copper I spent on him." Naofumi said, though Shirou was unconvinced. Raphtalia blushed slightly at the implications of what Shirou had said. Midori seemed a little more hung up on something else.

"Shirou-sama really doesn't like dogs, does he?" The boy asked with a tilt of the head.

Shirou took in a deep breath. "The first time I met the patron god of dogs, the bastard stabbed me though my heart from behind with his cursed spear because is just so happened to be around." Shirou said, clenching his hands at the memory of Lancer. "That man disgusted me down to my core. The way he cared about nothing but being able to enjoy his fights."

Lancer might not have been as twisted as Gilgamesh or Caster, but the way he could just shrugged his shoulders about cold blooded murder, and the possible end of the world, so long as he got to enjoy his fights, didn't sit well with Shirou.

Besides, the man was based on Celtic lore, meaning druids and elementals. Shirou's power was the rejection of the natural World. The two of them were born to be enemies. The only reason they didn't end up killing each other was because Assassin got to him first.

"…You were stabbed through the heart by a god?" Naofumi said, in a little disbelief.

"Demigod, and I am very stubborn." Shirou said with a slight smile. Really, the thing that had saved him wasn't his stubbornness, but something even more rare than a miracle; Rin willingly handing out one of her jewels.

Finishing the note, Shirou handed it over to Midori, who looked over it. "Your grammar is horrible." The little boy mumbled, earning a twitch out of Shirou.

"Alright, lets find a place to do this. Preferably one where your screaming won't upset anyone." Shirou said as he got up from the table.

"My screaming?" Naofumi asked.

"Yes, this is probably going to be the most painful thing you will ever experience in your entire life." Shirou said with a smile. "Did I forget to mention that?"

* * *

Shirou was up late that night, though he was up late every night. With Jian providing an increased rest efficiency, Shirou only needed around three hours of sleep to get by, so he spent a good deal of his time at night awake.

[Legendary Holy Sword (Jian) – Lv: Nul – Job: Sword Maiden (Lv: 3 – Str: +8, Spd: +6, Chrm: +3)]

"So, that actually did work." Shirou mumbled with a small smile. Convincing Jian to register herself as a companion instead of as equipment had allowed him to equip her with a Job. The bonuses from the job were flowing from Jian into Shirou, basically doubling the benefits he could receive from the Job System. "Still, I'm surprised you are so willing to admit your maiden status."

[A Legendary Weapon is a Sword; thus Sword Maiden seemed the most appropriate.]

Jian said, defending her choice of Job titles.

"And here I thought you only choice it because it made you sound pretty." Shirou said as he rested himself back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. "Hey Jian, for the Wave tomorrow. Would it be alright with you if I hung back and let the others take care of the main event? I want to see how they will act. See if they can be counted on in the future."

[A Hero can fight however they wish to fight, so long as they only use their Legendary Weapon.]

"Is that so. I thought you liked to show off."

[A Legendary Sword was under the impression that the Hero liked to show up his peers.]

"I'm not trying to show them up. I'm trying to motivate them." Shirou said with a sigh. "Honestly, I would give anything to have the girls here with me instead of those three. Sakura would be a far better Hero of the Bow than that kid."

Itsuki had really pissed Shirou off, throwing around the word Justice like he knew a damn thing about it. He could hardly believe that Itsuki was actually seventeen. No one who was as self-righteous as he was should ever call themselves an Ally of Justice. Even if Shirou knew that he could never reach that ideal, he still thought highly of it.

If Itsuki had the first clue what an Ally of Justice was, he wouldn't have sat back and watched as the kingdom left Naofumi to die.

Not that Motoyasu was much better. He was just more tolerable because he hadn't claimed to be an Ally of Justice. Even now, Shirou didn't know them very well. He thought he had Naofumi's personality down, but Motoyasu and Itsuki weren't so simple, or maybe he was just hoping they weren't as simple as they appeared. That was why he planned on hanging back for the Wave and see how they behaved around each other and Naofumi.

"Hm…" Shirou lifted his head as he picked up the presence of a weapon close by, one he recognized. The Legendary Holy Spear. It was no more than two blocks away and moving towards the outer edge of the city. "Is Motoyasu planning on hunting tonight? No, there isn't any hunting ground worth his time near the castle. He'd have to travel for two hours by Filolial to get to a dungeon." Shirou got up from his seat and started towards the door.

* * *

"A toast to your eyes." Motoyasu said, holding up a glass of wine. The girl he had just met at the bar started to giggle at the gesture, though stopped as someone approached Motoyasu from behind.

"'A toast to your eyes.' Really?" The man said, Motoyasu turned around before a grin broke across his face.

"Oyaji, I didn't know you were in town!" He said as the white-haired man gave him the smile of a friend saying, 'I can't believe you just did that'.

"You should make sure to punch whoever taught you that line, because they are clearly making fun of you." Shirou said, glancing towards the girl. "Mind of I cut in."

"Ah, sorry April… I… ah…" Motoyasu stumbled, but the girl seemed to get the picture and dismissed herself, telling Motoyasu to come by later when he wasn't so busy. "How did everything go with the refugees?" He offered Shirou a drink, but the man turned it down. With potions that cured hangovers, Motoyasu had become more willing to drink when offered, but he didn't mind Shirou turning him down. It was pretty late.

"Well, I hope. After reaching the settlement location and checking out the local Lord to make sure everything was clean, I turned around and came here." Shirou said.

"Are you planning on helping out with the Wave?" Motoyasu asked with a grin.

"Afraid not. I've been given another job, tracking someone down. Rita, Firo and Azu all chose to party with the Shield Hero for the Wave, so they will be fighting." Shirou said with a shake of his head. Motoyasu made a face at the mention of Naofumi, and opened him mouth, but Shirou cut him off. "You don't need to worry. Those three are much stronger than Naofumi-san is. Even if he did try something, he'd just end up dead. I won't let my children go if I didn't think it would be safe."

"Beautiful girls like them shouldn't be forced to fight on the frontlines at all. They shouldn't have to dirty their hands with so much blood." Motoyasu said, looking down at his glass of red wine… he should have gotten white wine instead. The idea of Naofumi just sitting back and just letting those beautiful girls, both the mercenaries and those he was with at the hourglass, fight for him while he reaped the rewards made his blood boil.

That wasn't how a hero was supposed to be at all…

"Motoyasu-san, where is your party?" Shirou asked, snapping Motoyasu out of it.

Motoyasu's head fell. "The truth is…" Motoyasu told Shirou everything that had happened at the Hourglass. About how he had been unable to unlock the Companion Series. About how he had slipped away from his party so that they wouldn't see him sulking about it. "What's wrong with me? I thought I was pretty far along with my relationships with the girls. I could tell you each of their backgrounds, their hobbies, what kind of dresses they like and their favorite times of day, I've never forgotten to spend time with them, so why can't I unlock the Companion Series?"

Shirou nodded as Motoyasu opened himself up. "I think I get it." Shirou said with a nod. "Motoyasu-san, how many monsters have those girls actually killed?"

"Ah, well. A few. I guess." Motoyasu mumbled, glancing away a bit.

"We aren't even looking at double digits, are we?" Shirou said with a raised eyebrow. Slowly, Motoyasu shook his head.

"They usually just support me with magic." Motoyasu said.

"First and second grade support magic? The kind you can learn from just using an orb?" Shirou asked.

"…Mostly." Motoyasu admitted weakly.

"Tell me, are they really what you would call companions? Are they there because they wish to fight for the sake of the world, or are they there simple because they wish to be around you?" Shirou said. "If they don't view themselves as fighters, how can they view themselves as true companions to the Legendary Hero?"

Motoyasu's head shot up and his eyes widened. Was that it? Was the reason that he couldn't unlock the Companion Series because the girls didn't view themselves as being fighters? Or maybe, because HE didn't view them as fighters? Was it Motoyasu's insistence on doing the fighting for them that was holding them all back? The man put his face in his hands. "Oyaji, I can't make them fight. They just aren't built for it." He said miserably. "What do I do?"

"Motoyasu-san, for those girls own safety, I suggest you stop partying with them." Shirou said. His words hitting Motoyasu's heart like a hammer.

"I can't do that! They put their faith in me! They believe that I will protect them and see things through to the end! I… can't just force them away." Motoyasu half shouted, hoping to get the old man to understand. "Oyaji, everyone else has left me. Those girls are all I have."

"Calm down and think clearly." Shirou said, putting a hand on Motoyasu's shoulder and pushing him back down into his seat. "Right now, things are relatively safe. Even the Waves aren't strong enough to pose a real threat. But before long, things will get much worse. There are monsters out there that even I can't hope to fight against, that is the entire reason the Legendary Heroes exist in the first place, and if you bring those girls with you, they will die. Anyone who doesn't have the benefits of the Companion Series, or a similar effect, might as well be dead weight. Or worse, a fat, glowing weak point."

'Right… the Four Sacred Beasts.' Motoyasu thought. They were plot important boss monsters that no one under level 100 had any business being involved with. Even if they were weakened from having their awakening disturbed, they were still stupidly powerful monsters. Even the weakest of them, in their weakest form, had a suggested level of 80. While the girls might be able to be around the Spirit Turtle and the Phoenix, at near maxed out level, with the right equipment and under good conditions, the White Tiger and the Dragon Emperor were out of the question for anyone with stats under that of a level 140.

"…Then what do I do?" Motoyasu asked again. "I can't make the girls fight, and I haven't been able to recruit any real fighters. Every time I try, they always leave within a few days."

"There are other ways. Have you considered Tamed Monsters?" Shirou suggested. "From what I have heard from Naofumi, there is also a Beastmaster's series that gives the same kind of benefits as the Companion Series, only it works on tamed monsters instead of humans and demihumans."

"A monster companion… you mean like a pet dog?" Motoyasu said, looking a little hopeful. The white-haired man noticeably twitched.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a dragon horse, or a flying knight's dragon. Something with a bit more defense, speed and power than just a dog." Shirou said.

Motoyasu thought about it. He had a Dragon Horse that he road around on, though it wasn't registered to him. It was pretty fast and strong. What would it be like if he had raised one himself? Having an incredibly strong dragon mount did sound pretty kick ass. There's also the tactical advantage of flight, if he managed to get his hands on a flying breed.

"Yeah, I think I'll try that." Motoyasu said, nodding his head. "But… do I really have to leave the girls behind? I don't want to give them the impression that I think their useless or anything." Shirou gave him a look. "…I'll not bring them with me anywhere dangerous."

The old man sighed. "You really are hopeless. Fine, just don't let them get in the way of having a party that can actually get things done."

"Yeah, two or three powerful monsters should do the trick." Motoyasu said, all grins again, before he looked over Shirou shoulder. "Uh, Oyaji…"

Shirou turned around to see that little tiger girl from before, sleepily pawning at one of her cheeks will dressed in some kind of lion cosplay outfit, or maybe liger would be a better description, since it was white with black stripes. "Shirou-sama, I had a nightmare."

"…And so you left the inn and tracked me down across half the city?" Shirou said, giving the girl a look. She only nodded in response. Shirou sighed and got up from the table. "Come on. Let's get you back before your brother realizes you disappeared and has a heart attack."

"Okay." The girl said, reaching out to take Shirou's hand.

"A father's work is never done, huh?" Motoyasu mumbled as he watched the man leaving with the little girl. "Did he end up adopting that girl too? Man's good a big heart."

Motoyasu asked around and soon found out were he could buy some monsters. The people also described to him what he could only call the Monster Egg Gacha.

Huh, maybe he'd try that out. Let fate determine his future partners.

* * *

Naofumi stared at the black bar labeled OP.

'OP? How appropriate.'

Damn that hurt. Without the strange red cloth that Shirou wrapped around Naofumi's arm, he doubted he would be able to think straight, though the way it made him feel like someone had chopped his arm off and replaced it with a clay replica was rather unsettling. Upside was, the cloth had stupid amounts of magic defense, and good basic defense too.

Shirou said that Naofumi should wear the cloth at all times for the first week or so, when he wasn't practicing his control. It would stop him from accidently activating his magic circuits and frying himself. It would also stop him from awakening the circuits elsewhere in his body before he was used to using them.

In the end, Shirou had only awoken the circuits inside of one of Naofumi's arms, saying that, if the worst comes to worst, at least they would have a one-armed Shield Hero.

'To practice magecraft is to walk a tight rope with death.'

Well, Naofumi certainly felt like he was about to die, so it must be working.

"How do you feel?" Raphtalia asked as she changed the wet cloth on Naofumi's head, Midori was also by his bedside, and Sadeena was sitting nearby with a sleeping Keel. Naofumi had given Keel some of his best potions, with Shirou even chipping in, using his magic to boost the quality from excellent quality all the way up to masterwork. Shirou didn't like Keel, not after the boy bit him, and then stole his dinner, but he still helped the kid. That stupid Saint would help anyone.

The boy should be back to normal health before the Wave hit. Then they could level him up a little.

"Great. So great that I think the two of you get some sleep. The Wave is tomorrow, you know." Naofumi said, looking over at them. "You won't be of any use to me if you are falling asleep on the battlefield." The two didn't make any attempt to move. "Don't make me order you."

It had been a week since the last time he used the punishment on either of them, and even that had been because Midori had snuck into bed with him in the night. Having a boygirl clinging to you was not how Naofumi wanted to wake up in the morning.

"Can we just stay up until the new egg hatches?" Midori asked, holding up the incubator. Naofumi couldn't read the count down timer on it, but he was assured that there were only minutes left.

"Fine, but then it is to bed with the both of you." Naofumi said, earning nods of agreement from the two.

"You sound like you're their mother." Sadeena laughed from across the room. Naofumi chose not to acknowledge that comment.

Keel shot up in bed and started growling even before the knock came at the door. Shirou entered and threw the kid his own look before turning to the rest of the room. "So, how do you feel?"

"Like this isn't even my arm anymore." Naofumi said flatly.

"Yes. I know that feeling." Shirou said as he went over and placed a hand on Naofumi's shoulder, right above where the red cloth started. Naofumi flinched this time, as when Shirou used his weird magic to analyze him, he actually felt it. "You've already washed out most of the Od I used in awakening your circuits. So the worst of the pain should have passed. You'll be back on your feet before the morning."

"Good to know." Naofumi said, reaching up his right hand and scratching at the shoulder. He could hardly even feel his own touch. "This thing is so unnerving."

"That thing is the Holy Shroud of a true Saint and is one of the most holy objects in the world. Or it is at least a copy of one. So don't scratch at the seal." Shirou told him with a pressing look.

"Ah, sure thing sensei." Naofumi said with a sigh, lowering his arm and trying not to think about it. "Hey Shirou. What can you tell me about the Church of the Three Heroes?"

"No more than anyone else could tell you. Melromarc is… or was a country built on the idea of human supremacy. As the neighboring Demihuman countries worshipped the Shield Hero above all others, the Church in Melromarc broke away from the Four Saint Faith and created a religion were the Shield Hero is seen as the devil. Or so the story goes. Each nation has their own version of the events, so no one can say for certain which is the truth." Shirou explained. "Though you tell me, given the fact that the Cursed Series exists, do you think it is impossible that one of the Heroes of the past became a Devil?"

Naofumi didn't respond. Because Shirou did have a point there. Actually, he felt surprisingly calm at that option. The anger was there, but it felt easier to manage. Like something was keeping it back. "True or not, it doesn't charge the fact that I'm being falsely accused of crimes, and my life is in danger." Naofumi said. "Perhaps I should run. You said that these other countries worship the Shield Hero, maybe I could…"

"It's shit everywhere. Trust me." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "A high-ranking man in Siltvelt actually tried to hire me to make sure that you never went to Siltvelt because your influence would threaten the balance of power. If you run there, you would have to check every drink you were ever given. The only difference would be rather than making you a pariah, giving you room to move about, the people trying to kill you would throw women and drugs at you. Also, if you fled Melromarc, then the other countries would use it as an excuse to go to war. That means less people to help with the Waves and a low chance of survival for you and your friends."

Naofumi only groaned and leaned back into his pillow. "What the hell is wrong with this world?"

"Is your world any better?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…Kind of. At the very least, in my world, none of this kind of stuff was ever my problem." Naofumi said with a shrug.

"A life without politics. Must have been nice." Shirou said in almost a teasing voice. "Would you like me to get you some kind of drink? Something to numb the pain?"

Naofumi just shook his head. "Wouldn't do me any good. Alcohol has no effect on me. Never got so much of a buzz, no matter how much I drank, so I usually stay away from it. I figured that if I can't tell when I've drank too much, it was probably safer to not drink at all. Besides, wine just tastes like grape juice for me."

"Really? You don't get drunk? Even before you became the Shield Hero?" Shirou said, scratching his chin. "That shouldn't be biologically possible. Curious. Perhaps this is related to why you were summoned to be the Shield Hero in the first place. You have a supernatural constitution."

"There is nothing supernatural about it." Naofumi scoffed.

"Wait, do you seriously never get drunk?" Sadeena asked, sitting up straighter.

Raphtalia's eyes widened in alarm. "Naofumi-sama, you must never get into a drinking contest with Sadeena-nee-san!"

"Huh?"

"Oh come on Raphtalia, I want to stress test this."

"No means no!"

"The egg!" Midori shouted, holding up the incubator for them all to see. The timer had was going off as the boy pushed the thing into Naofumi's hands.

They all watched as cracks started to form in the shell before the egg opened up to reveal a hot pink ball of fluffy feathers. "Gueee." The little bird cheeped, flapping its arms about.

"Oh, she's so cute!" Midori said as she watched the little bird. "Was I that cute when I was a baby?"

"You still are a baby." Naofumi said to the boy. "And what makes you so sure it's a girl?"

"I'm a Filolial too, so I know these things." Midori said, puffing out his chest.

"And what gender are you?"

"I'm a girl."

"…We should probably get someone to double check that." Naofumi said with a sigh as the newborn climbed up his arm and rested on his head.

"Firo can talk a look at it in the morning, if you want." Shirou said as he watched the pink thing with a smile. "What are you going to name her? Assuming it is a girl."

"A name huh." Naofumi said, grabbing the little thing with his right hand and lifting it off of his head. Just like with Midori, the little thing was excited and full of energy. It was probably hungry too. Naofumi had so much on his mind, he hadn't thought about a name. He hadn't thought about one for Midori either. He had only named the boy after the color of his feathers. He figured he could just do the same thing again. "How about Sakura. In my world, it means Cherry Blossoms. Matches their color."

"…Sakura huh." Shirou mumbled, suddenly looking a little distant, a sad smile on his face. Then he just shook his head. "I'll get her something to eat. The rest of you should all get your rest. You'll need it tomorrow."

"Yes Shirou-sama, thank you for all your help." Raphtalia said with a bow as the man left.

Shirou stopped in the doorway and looked back. "Naofumi-san, the Church's days are numbered. Just hold out a little longer." Then, he left.

Naofumi blinked in surprise at Shirou's declaration, his detached feeling left hand going to his Shield. "Hold out, he says. That's all I'm good at." Naofumi huffed, though there was no heat in it. He smiled down at the new Filolial as it played around on top of him.

Again, things were looking up for the once struggling Shield Hero.

* * *

 **So a majority of people wanted Sakura over Kuro. Granted, it will be a while before Sakura obtains human form so you won't see her character interactions until later, but so be it.**

 **While having both Midori and Kuro on the same team would have been funny, them having a little bit of a rivalry going, having Midori around a 'little sister' that is way bigger than him is also pretty funny.**

 **Motoyasu is going to get Kuro. Mostly because of karma. He'll just have to live with the fact that the cutest girl on his team is actually a guy.**

* * *

 **A comment on Jian's nature as a very over possessive sword. Remember which were the first legendary weapons that Jian copied.**

 **The Married blades, Kanshou and Bakuya.**

 **Consider their story and the kind of personality they would hold. Unless my interpretation is wrong, they were supposed to literally hold the souls of the husband and wife, which always desired to be together, and the wife throw herself in to the fire for her husband.**

 **Being the first strong personality weapons that Jian absorbed, they have the greatest effect on her personality. So she is extremely attached and willing to do anything to stay with Shirou... anything.**

 **Just be glad she didn't copy Mordred's** **Clarent first.**

* * *

 **Some people want to know about Shirou inability to use the Dragon Pulse Command. So let me make things clear.**

 **Shirou, as the Sword Hero, could theoretically use the Dragon Pulse Command. However, in order to do that, he would have to accept the World's perspective and work with it.**

 **This is Emiya Fucking Shirou, so that isn't going to happen. That would be like Rin swearing off jewels. It doesn't matter how temporary, or what you offer them in exchange, they just can't do it.**

 **Water magic is part of the Legendary Holy Sword. So Jian amplifies Shirou's natural talents with water magic. The problem is, Shirou has no natural talent at water magic. So it is a mute point.**

 **That said, as Jian gains more and more independence, she will start being able to cast magic on her own thus filling the gap in Shirou's arsenal. Jian will be able to cast the spells that Shirou can't, as well as the buffs that he can, without him needed to use concentration.**

* * *

 **Someone also wanted to know how Damage-Reduction-from-X works. I mentioned this before when Enhancement first came up, but it was in the author's notes and not the story. It will come up later in story when Naofumi uses it to his advantage.**

 **The damage taken is equal to (Attacker's Attack * (Attacker's Weapon Base Attack Power / The Armor's Base Defense Power of whatever was hit) * (things like % damage-reduction and/or % bonus-damage) ) - Defender's Defense**

 **So if the attacker had an attack of 1000 and you have 900 defense and +10% damage-reduction from them, then the damage taken is 0, rather than 90. (Assuming base attack and base defense are equal.)**


	37. Chapter 36

'Different world, same old magical alarms.' Shirou thought with a smile as he used his Od to break down a cornerstone of the castle's mystic defenses, breaking down their alarm system without triggering it. 'Alright, that's a lie. No magus would have ever left anything so poorly defended.'

Disabling them wasn't rocket science. All you had to do was identify the power output and cut it off. Even if you are detected, without power, no traps would trigger. Most magus knew this so they set up complicated matrixes of runes, but the magic squares of this world were at the elementary level at best.

Shirou glanced towards the timer which was counting down till the start of the wave.

[00:00:46]

So, roughly forty-five minutes for a jail break. Piece of cake. He had the castle blueprints and the location of the prisoners. All he had to do was sneak past the guards and use the [Transport Sword] to escape. There wasn't even a single giant golem (with optional laser eyes), shapeshifting kamikaze maids, or even normal bounded field fuckery involved.

It was a little disappointing. Shirou had never been given an infiltration job this easy before. It was almost suspiciously easy, to the point were Shirou questioned if it was all just some kind of trap.

Was the Queen trying to trap him? He couldn't think of a single good reason as to why should would.

With a shrug of his shoulders. Jian shifted into her Carnwennan form and activated [Presence Concealment] letting Shirou melt into the shadows. He kept his eyes out for magical traps and unusual guards… but there were none. They were nothing more than ordinary guards, and no form of magical enchantments outside of the alarms put on the caste walls. Even the dungeon itself was hardly any better. The magic lock on the door was easily dealt with using the knife of a Phantom Thief, and Shirou was in.

He would have to talk to the Queen about proper defenses.

And Yami had suggested he enter through the sewer…

Moving into the dungeon's, he closed the door behind him before quickly etching a sequence of runes for sealing and driving one of his traced Azoth Sword into it. The runes glowed in the dark as the door was sealed to the point where it would take a fair amount of force to open.

Now all that was left to do was take care of the dungeon guards. He descended down into the depths, letting Jian turn into her Tora-Shinai form.

"Let's make this quick."

* * *

Éclair Seaetto sat with her back against the outer wall of her cell, trying to imagine she felt the heat from the sun coming from the stone, though it was only her reflected body heat.

'Live nobly, without any regrets.'

Her father had left her with those words. He had them sent to her before he died fighting in the Wave, while she had been too far away to assist. But sitting there in a prison cell, waiting to be executed for whatever charges they eventually decided to bare against her, she didn't feel all that noble, nor did she feel like she had accomplished anything she had wished to. She felt like such a failure. A failure as a knight, a failure as a noble, and a failure as a daughter. If she had just been there…

Éclair sighed and ran a hand through her long pink hair, trying to get some of the knots out. She hadn't been especially vain before, or she hadn't believed she had been. She had always considered keeping appearance as just part of moral and order. But four weeks in a prison cell, right next to the latch that led to the city sewers, taught a person a lot about themselves.

Éclair had learned that while she didn't mind the smell of sweat and blood, shit was were she drew the line. And with how old and backed up the Castle City sewers were, the smell was overwhelming.

She gagged every time the latch was lifted.

Occasionally, she imagined somehow getting her hands on the keys, freeing herself and the other three young knights who had dared to act against the illegal seizing of citizens for forced slavery, and escaping through that sewer with guards in hot pursuit.

Such fantasies were rubbish, of course. If she ever set one foot out of that cell, a single word from the guards would put her in unbelievable agony through the slave crest that they branded the prisoners with. They could even kill her, not matter how much distance she put between them. The fact that these men had yet to do so, just for kicks, was a testament to their character. Éclair had known soldiers to take advantage of such power over people.

It wasn't uncommon to hear about women getting raped by prison guards before their eventual execution. Though those might just be rumors. Or maybe her noble status and the idea that she might one day be acquitted and seek vengeance was what stayed their hands.

Whatever it was, she knew that time was running out. Whatever 'evidence' they were gathering to be used against her was probably nearly complete. Their only hope now would be for the Queen to return and put a stop to all this foolishness… but even that could result in a civil war, given the influence the true criminals have. Perhaps it would be better if they just died. Better for a few knights to die than hundreds of the citizens they were sworn to protect.

*Crack!* *Snap!* *Roar!* *Thud. Thud. Thud.*

Éclair looked up at the sudden burst of noise and the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the floor. Getting up, she started to approach the door when an unfamiliar voice came through the bars. "Are you Éclair Seaetto?"

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" Éclair asked, though the man didn't answer. The door was unlocked and opened inwards, revealing a tall individual with gray and black hair and dressed in dark clothes. Part of his face was covered and there was a bandanna around his head. In his hand was a wooden training sword, though an oddly shaped one with tiger stripes decorating it.

"Find your companions and unlock their cells as well." The man said, tossing Éclair a ring of keys. "I've been hired to get you out of here."

She didn't waste time asking more questions. She just rushed past the man and towards were the others were being kept. On her way she saw the guards laying on the ground. Her eyes glanced over them and she breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed that none of them were actually dead. The stranger had merely knocked them all unconscious.

To knock out three guards, each spread out through the tunnel before any of them could make the slightest sound. The man was fast. Was he one of the Queen's Shadows?

No, he said he had been hired. A Zeltbull assassin? But why would a mercenary assassin be breaking them out of prison? Who had valued them so much as to pay for such a high-risk job? And what kind of assassin purposely left guards alive?

"Éclair-san, what's going on?" Erdrick asked as he exited his cell.

"It seems that we are getting out of here." She told her knight's class friend, giving… the rogue(?) a glance.

"Getting out of here? What good would that do?" Adam said, pulling at his prison shirt so that his slave seal showed. "The moment they realize we are gone, we'll be dead."

"…Not necessarily." Erdrick said, his eyes drifting towards the unconscious guards. "I'm pretty sure that the seals have been keyed into them."

Éclair's eyes widened at what the man had just implied. "Absolutely not!" She shouted, causing the men to flinch at the sudden noise. They tried to shush her, but she would not be silenced. "Those men were only doing their duties! I will not stain my honor by sacrificing innocent men to save myself! I would sooner die! And if you wish to go through with it, then I will stop you!"

"Éclair-san." Erdrick stammered, stepping back as she raised her hands.

"That will be unnecessary." The rogue said stepping forward. His cheeks were raised, and his eyes conveyed amusement at Éclair's little display. He raised up one of his hands and the group gasped as out from underneath the skin between his knuckled grew a twisted piece of ugly rusted metal, a small bit of blood dripping down his arm from the exit wound. The Knights stepped back as they felt a sinister presence coming from it. "Don't be squeamish. A single prick from this can remove slave seal. No need to kill anyone."

Éclair was the first one to nod and step forwards, volunteering to test to see if what the man said was really true. As the seal dissolved, Éclair forgot all decency and pulled her collar outwards, glancing down at her once against bare chest. At her smile, the others quickly moved to get their seals removed as well.

"Alright. Time to get out of here. I need you all to temporarily join my partier." The man said, sending them all an invite.

[No Name – Lv (hidden)]

[Atla – Lv 5]

[Fohl – Lv 1]

So, he had a means for masking himself from other's Status Magic. Not really surprising. But who were the other two party members?

Still, Éclair didn't know how he planned to get them all… When did they get outside? Each of them just stared in wonder at their surroundings, as they were beneath a clear sky in the courtyard of a small manor house. A house that looked vaguely familiar.

"Éclair-sama, you're alright." Éclair blinked in surprise as she turned to face Baron Van Reichnott.

"What? But how?" Éclair stammered, before receiving a sharp push from behind.

"How about the fugitives get inside before anyone spots them?" The unnamed rogue said as he quickly booted Éclair and her companions from his party.

"Ah, of course. Right this way." Van Reichnott said with his normal smile, leading them into the manor. Once the doors were closed, someone came from around the corner up the stairs. Someone who caused Éclair and the other knights to immediately take the knee."

"It is good to see that you are all well. I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon." Her Majesty, the Queen said from behind her fan.

"Your Majesty, I think I speak for us all when I humbly thank you for your assistance." Adam said before any of the rest of them could speak.

"That isn't the Queen. It's just one of her Shadows." The rogue said, surprising the group.

The Queen(?) frowned. "What gave me away this time, degojaru?"

"Nothing. I can just tell. Also, you aren't Yami either." The man said with a shake of the head.

The Shadow froze at the accusation. "The Hero of the Sword is indeed formidable."

"The Sword Hero!?" Éclair gasped.

The Hero of the Sword didn't respond, save to sigh. "I wish you hadn't said that." He mumbled before glancing over to Van Reichnott. "I need a place to change my appearance back before the Wave hits and I'm transported away. Mind showing me a room."

"Of course." Van Reichnott said with a smile.

"Thanks… Yami." The Sword said as his face mask and bandanna started to dissolve into light, exposing a cheeky grin.

Van Reichnott twitched before his body slowly shifted, quickly replaced by another Shadow. "I hate you, degojaru."

…Éclair pinched herself. Trying to establish this as reality. Even with the pain, she still wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't in her cell and that this wasn't all just a delusional dream brought about by the fumes coming from the sewer.

This had to be the strangest five minutes of her life.

* * *

"Sent on a mission to bust a suicidal idealist out of prison." Shirou said as he dismissed the dark clothes and brought out the Griffin Armor set. "I'm sure there is some kind of irony here."

"Are you suggesting that you are an idealist, degojaru?" Yami asked from just outside of the room. "You're actions in Zeltbull didn't suggest such a thing, degojaru."

Shirou winced a little at the reminder. The gang war had already cost twenty-three people their lives. Even if the closing of the colosseums had already saved hundreds, even if most of those people who died were scum, Shirou still felt unclean about his part in their deaths. And not all were crucks. Women and children were often targeted during such things.

It had been the best plan that Shirou could come up with at the time. A plan that wouldn't create a real war or result in even more deaths. Even this was only a temporary solution. Soon, someone will try to fill the power gap left by the fall of the Colosseums. He'd have to deal with that before it became a problem.

There is no such thing as absolute good. Even saving an entire dimension could cost another. No matter what you do, someone, somewhere always pays a price. How many times had Zelretch told him that? Once, Shirou believe it was just his excuse for his laziness, but there was some truth to it.

"You're right, I'm not, but I was once. Which is why I'm worried for that woman. So ready to throw her life away. She didn't even give it a second thought." Shirou said. The Od drained out of his hair, so that it returned to its normal red and white coloration. "Her father is dead. She has no more family. Those ideals of hers are all she has left. Yet even when forced to face reality and finding that it conflicts with her ideals, she keeps insisting on them. I don't know whether I should be impressed or sad for her."

"…You think too much, degojaru." Yami said simply.

"I suppose I do." Shirou replied with a sigh. "So, what's next. The Queen wanted these people because they would have the names of the corrupt lords working with the Cult of the Three Heroes, right?"

"That is correct, degojaru." Yami admitted. "With the foreign threat handled, Her Majesty is turning her focus towards the internal threats posed by the corrupt families, degojaru. If order is going to be maintained after the removal of the old church, we need to have plans in place to remove the worst threats and reallocate power, degojaru."

"Do you have enough manpower to pull off that kind of operation? If things don't go perfectly, you might have a bunch of nobles trying to defend themselves on your hands." Shirou asked.

"The Queen is a master strategist, degojaru. …However, it will be difficult, degojaru." Yami admitted. "As you say, everything needs to be done all at once in order to prevent a counterattack, degojaru. If the Church's nobles start to disappear before then, then it will be obvious to them that the Queen is making her move against them, degojaru. As of now, they do not know of her position and are confident with their hold on the King and Princess Malty, degojaru."

"So what you need is something that you could credibly blame it in. A natural disaster, or a known enemy of the Church." Shirou said, as he finished putting on his armor and opened the door, to late the spy in. "Demihumans would be the obvious choice, but it could cause a lot of problems further down the road if they are blamed for terrorist attacks. But does the Church even have enemies outside of the Demihuman community?"

"Not inside of Melromarc, and with the world the way it is, no one outside would target them either, degojaru." Yami said, shaking her head.

Shirou sighed and closed his eyes. It wouldn't be hard to manipulate Motoyasu or Itsuki into attacking one or more of the nobles. A few rumors about trafficking women and Motoyasu would probably jump into action, and Itsuki wasn't so picky about his 'bad guys', as far as Shirou could tell. The spies in their party would be able to confirm that the two Heroes never met with the Queen or any of her men. They would just be acting out on their own. But how much nonsense would the Church of the Three Heroes put up with before they killed the two?

If Naofumi, the Demon of the Shield, started to attack the Church's men, no one would question it, as he is the sworn enemy of the Church anyways. But was Naofumi strong enough to withstand the Church? So far, they had just been leaving him alone because he is a convenient hate figure and killing him would cause more trouble than it was worth on the international scene. If they knew how strong he was becoming, they might not be so passive.

Though in that circumstance, the thing he would be worried most for wouldn't be Naofumi, with his stupidly high defense, but his party. If those few kind children who are the only thing stopping him from flying straight off the deep end were hurt, or worse, killed, not only would Naofumi actually use his Cursed Series, it would probably evolve into something equal to a high-ranking Noble Phantasm.

Naofumi, walking around, nearly unkillable and unrestrainable through normal means, with a weapon that could easily slaughter everyone around him, and cursed into desiring to do so. Yikes.

…Shirou would likely have to put the guy down himself if such a thing came to pass.

"Hero-sama." Yami said, drawing Shirou out of his thoughts. "For the sake of Her Majesty, I would like to request that you add me to your party for the duration of the Wave, degojaru. That way, I will be there to witness both your actions and those of the other Heroes and can best report to her on the event, degojaru."

'Don't get the wrong idea. I'm doing this for me.'

"Sure. I don't see why not." Shirou said with a shrug.

[Emiya Shirou – Lv 64]

[Atla – Lv 5]

[Fohl – Lv 1]

[Yami – Lv 73]

"…You used the belt to change your Status Menu name?" Shirou said with a raised eyebrow.

"No I didn't, degojaru." The Shadow said, keeping a flat tone. "It just happened, degojaru. I don't know why, degojaru."

"Right…" Shirou said, rolling his eyes, while at the same time glancing at the count down times. "Still have thirty minutes. Want some tea?"

"…Please, degojaru."

* * *

[00:00:05]

Just five minutes until the wave started. Both Naofumi's party and the Mercenary Temps were gathered together, fully equip, and waiting for the Wave to show up.

Firo was in her bird form and hooked up to her carriage. It would let Naofumi see just how much they were allowed to carry with them whenever they were transported.

Midori and Sadeena were given weapons of equal quality to the Meteor Short Sword that Shirou had given Raphtalia. Sadeena had chosen to get a trident, while Midori had requested an axe as big as his body in human form. Even Keel was given Raphtalia's old short sword when Shirou upgraded her to a full sword.

Everyone was basically happy with their equipment. Save for one detail.

"Why do I have to wear this stupid thing?" Keel grumbled as he shifted about in the Lion costume he had been given to wear for the wave.

"Stop complaining. We don't have time to get you any other kind of armor. You don't see Sadeena complaining." Naofumi told the boy. True enough, Sadeena was also wearing the lion themed pajamas. "Even if it looks weird, it has good stats."

"Then why aren't Raphtalia-chan and Midori-chan wearing them?" Keel demanded. "This feel like more of a girl thing to wear anyways."

'That's because they don't want to wear them.' Naofumi thought. Even Midori hadn't wanted to wear the childish pajamas into a battlefield, no matter how much Firo had tried to get him to. "Just stop complaining." Naofumi said, getting tired of the boy's whining. "Also, Midori is a boy."

"What? No she isn't. Just look at her. She's a girl." Keel said, pointing at Midori.

"Trust me, he's got a penis. He's a guy." Naofumi said with a tired sigh.

Keel blinked in confusion, looking from Midori back to Naofumi. "What's a penis? And what does it do with being a boy?"

"…God da…" Naofumi started to swear as Sadeena burst into laughter. Raphtalia had a shocked look on her face at the boy(?) she had known since childhood. But none of them had time to deal with this.

[00:00:00]

Naofumi wasn't looking forward to sorting that one out later.

* * *

 **Sorry for spoiling it for you, everyone who is just reading the manga/watched the anime, but Keel is a girl. Her father, rather than explaining to her was the physical difference was between the genders, just told her that she was a boy if she wanted to be.**

 **Also, Eclair's behavior was suicide depression, not being noble. Sorry to anyone who that she was cool.**

* * *

 **5,346 reviews**

 **5,082 favorites**

 **6,002 followers**

 **...*groan*...**

 **As paradoxical as it might seem, I post to the site because the act of posting helps motivate me to continue write. But at the same time, I loathe having a lot of readers. Especially when some of them seem capable of reading through 36+ chapters, even as they hate everything about the story.**

 **I only read reviews for that occasional question that makes me think of a new plot point (this happens often as I have almost no clue what I am doing. In fact,** **it happened just earlier today with someone PMing me** **).**

 **Granted, as often as it happens, it is less than .5% of all reviews.**

 **Most just keep asking me what their Waifu, Jian, looks like in a human form.**


	38. Chapter 37

The start of the Wave was accompanied by the sound of the world itself shattering.

Naofumi and the others suddenly found themselves in a forest clearing. Trying to get his bearings, Naofumi looked up at the sky and his eyes widened slightly at the sight. Dyed an eerie wine red, cracks began peeling away and expanding outward through the sky due to the dimensional rift. Shirou had described it to him but seeing it himself made it all the more real.

While Naofumi was assessing the scene, two shadows dashed past him, followed by twelve other people.

Those shitty Heroes, Motoyasu and Itsuki, were running together straight towards the center of the rift. They were probably both trying to be the first to the boss monster.

Well, they should have high enough damage to handle it. Naofumi would stick to his plan of using the Wave to grind out levels. Killing as many monsters as he could in an area that the other heroes weren't covering was helping in its own way.

Issei probably had a similar plan, as the man moved away from Motoyasu and Itsuki, going towards a large hill towards the group's left. Three of those ninja people were following behind him. Two of them were what Naofumi believed to be the kids from before, while the third seemed to be an adult.

Naofumi watched the man go for a few second, before shaking his head.

As pissed as Naofumi had been about finding out that Issei wouldn't help him, he didn't hate the guy as much as he hated the other two. He would do anything to survive, even throw another man under the bus. At least he wasn't claiming to be a good person while fucking Naofumi in the ass. While he was no friend of the Shield Hero, he wasn't exactly an enemy either.

"Come on. We need to put some distance between ourselves and the other Heroes so that we can get the EXP bonuses." Naofumi said. They all gathered in the back of Firo's carriage and started to be pulled away in a different direction from the other three Heroes.

While riding along, Naofumi looked back up at the sky again and could see enemies come crawling out and pushing against each other through the large crack in the sky. Shirou had said that there were about 40 monsters crawling out of the rift every second, on average, during the last Wave. It looked like a whole lot more than that. He could hear the other Heroes using their AOE attacks to try to push back against the growing tide of enemies.

In a few seconds, they would be outside of the few kilometer radius of each other and would be able to start the…

"This is the vicinity of Riyuuto village!" Raphtalia shouted, dragging Naofumi down to earth. He looked around, and sure enough, he did recognize some of the surrounding area. He hadn't originally noticed, not with the red tint from the sky. "Since this is all farmland, a lot of people should still be dwelling here!"

"But everyone should have already evacu…" Naofumi started to say, but then stopped as he realized his mistake. No one had known beforehand where the Wave of Calamity would appear. So how the hell would they have known which locations needed to be evacuated?

Naofumi turned his head towards the other three Heroes, but they were already faraway.

Dammit all. What should he do? Did he circle back and tell them about the village? Did they have enough time to spare?

Already a large group of monstrous spiders separated themselves from the overflowing monster horde and started to headed straight towards the village's direction. The Heroes ignoring it as they just kept pressing forwards towards their goal.

One of the supports from the Hero's team shot something like a bullet flare up into the sky, signaling a sort of message. It must have been to inform the knight squadrons and rally them to their location.

What was the point of that? 'Hey everyone, the Wave is right here.' 'No shit sherlock.' There was already the giant hole in the fucking sky. What was the point of the signal?

Then it hit Naofumi.

They were calling for support in the attack, rather than defense. They would pull what little was in the area to help with their cause without even caring about the village.

BASTARDS!

"Tsk! Firo! There is a village nearby, off to the left! We need to protect them!" Naofumi shouted to the bird.

"Got it!" Firo chirped back before picking up the pace. The off-road rattling started to overwhelm the enchantments on the carriage, causing the ride to become more crazy and forcing the riders to grab hold of whatever they could.

Naofumi didn't care. He just kept his eyes ahead. He was indebted to many of the people from Riyuuto village. They might not have even realized that he was the Shield Hero, but they had helped him, not just with food and shelter when he was nearby, but with information about training grounds, the abandoned mines, and helping him to trade for the crystals he needed to empower his Shield.

He'd definitely suffer from remorse if they got killed by the wave.

* * *

The Shield Hero's group arrived at the village just as the first of the flying enemies arrived.

Firo rushed them straight past the panicking villagers and into the middle of the path for the monsters. "[Hate Reaction!]" Naofumi shouted, letting out a pulse of provoking magical energy which drew all the nearby monsters towards him.

The others quickly got to work killing the first group as Naofumi kept their focus. Hundreds of bees and birds stung and peaked at his body, but Naofumi didn't feel a thing.

"Keel, Midori and Firo, help get the elderly and injured to the carriage! Raphtalia, you take Sadeena and help guard everyone as they evacuate the town! Rita and Azu, I'll hold the monsters' attention, so just keep blasting at them!" Naofumi barked out his orders and the others quickly moved to obey.

Azu and Rita's magic was doing a good job cutting down the number of monsters, but they weren't making any headway. For each they killed, two more took its place. Now, the giant spiders were starting to arrive, and on the horizon was an army of skeleton. The side of Naofumi's vision became a blur of EXP gains and level up notifications as they tried to push back against the horde, but it was still not enough.

What were those other heroes doing? Were they just letting all the other monsters that weren't in their path escape?

"Hey, back off!" Keel shouted, grabbing Naofumi's attention. He turned his head to see the boy trying to slash at a large spider, as five others encircled him and the elderly woman he was trying to escort. Naofumi quickly protected them with a [Shield Prison], but a quick glance around revealed that there were still others in danger. It had only been four minutes since the wave had started, but there were monsters everywhere. They filled the sky and were crawling all over the buildings.

"Shit, some of the monsters are just moving around the outer edge of my taunt skill!" Naofumi grumbled. In a limited area, he could draw agro away from all others and keep people safe. That had been his plan. But this wasn't a small area. They didn't have the manpower for this!

A distant whistling sound drew eyes skyward just in time to see thousands of swords of various makes flying through the air, cutting down flying monsters as they went before landing somewhere on a ground target. Every one of the monsters that would be threatening an innocent, as well as thousands of those in the field, was struck by a blade, while leaving those that Naofumi was handling untouched. The pressure had been taken off.

Naofumi smirked a little. "I thought you said you only cared about your own survival." He said, even though he new the target of those words couldn't hear him.

* * *

[Ten Thousand Swords – 2:28 till off cooldown]

'That should get the pressure off of them, at the very least.' Shirou thought as he continued to cut down the waves of monsters that were coming close. He had deployed a magic beacon on top of their hill, which drew the more magically sensitive monsters towards them, like a moth to the flame.

There, he and Yami acted as the defenders while Atla and Fohl providing ranged support with bows, though only Atla had any skill with the weapons.

"Aren't you going to help the other Hero's with the Wave Boss, degojaru?" Yami asked as they fought.

"No. Not yet anyways. Let them fight it themselves for a while. I'll jump in if I need to." Shirou said with a bit of disinterest. Almost his entire focus was on the nearby enemies. Normally, he wouldn't talk at all on the battlefield, save for to throw off the enemy's concentration or lure them in, but the monsters simply didn't pose enough of a threat to them to worry about saving his breath. "The farmlands are flat and wide open. I can clear the field once every five minutes with a [Ten Thousand Swords] skill, if it looks like they are going to spread out of control."

He currently had [Dual Wielder+] active in order to keep out two weapons with +SP regeneration as their Status Enchantments, not only meditating the cost of [Dual Wielder] but also regenerating the SP spent by his [Ten Thousand Swords]. While the skill still ate up an absorbent amount of his SP, he could use it more than once before needing to resort to potions and draining his Od. With the other two weapons slots provided by [Dual Wielder+] he just kept cycling weapons that needed mastering.

He could almost singlehandedly keep this wave under lockdown for about half an hour, if needed. Even then, it was only the insects and birds that were fast enough to slip out of his grasp, and not in the kind of numbers needed to threaten entire towns.

So Shirou felt comfortable enough letting the Wave continue as he watched the others.

Naofumi had gone off to protect a nearby village. Something that actually surprised Shirou quiet a bit. He didn't know that Naofumi cared. Him and the girls were doing a good job keeping the monsters back and soon the evacuation would be complete.

Motoyasu and Itsuki on the other hand just went straight for the boss. Though their progress was slow, given the sheer number of monsters being spawned, and the lack of damage output processed by their party members. Everything was almost entirely focused around the Legendary Weapon Skills clearing a path. Though as time went on, they would start getting local reinforcements and began to push towards the goal a little quick, once their numbers grew.

This made sense really. The sooner the boss was beaten, the sooner the rift was closed. However, Shirou couldn't help but feel there was something wrong. Not so much with Motoyasu, but with Itsuki.

What would the Hero of the Bow wish to push forward like that? Would it not have been easier to get a good vantage point and just shoot the monster from a range? Shirou could see the Zombie Chimera from were he was standing on the hill, and if he so chose, he could have it dead in a second.

"This is insane. I've grown fifteen levels already." Fohl said with amazement as he absent mindedly shot out his arrows. He still occasionally hit a target, just because of how many enemies there were.

"You can join us on the front line if you want. You should have enough defense by then to not be in serious danger." Shirou told the boy. Though the boy's comment brought his attention to the EXP gain.

It was strange. While the previous Wave had given him around 200 EXP per kill on average, split up amongst the party, the monsters this Wave were only giving around 175. They didn't seem to be any weaker than the ones before. They actually were a little stronger power wise. So what was with the EXP drop? Was he still too close to the other Heroes?

[Weapon Level Up – Weapon Evolution: Rank 1]

[5 Evolution Points gained]

"What?" Shirou blinked in surprise, before it hit him. The EXP wasn't less. His party had a fifth member that he hadn't been considering. Jian registered as a companion; she was now starting to draw on the EXP herself.

 **[Weapon Evolution]**

[As a member of the Party, the Legendary Weapons can gain experience in battle, gaining Evolution Ranks and Evolution Points. Evolution Points can be spent to unlock new skills/abilities which the Legendary Weapon can use. More skills/abilities become available as the Weapon's Evolution Rank increases. Evolution Points gained at each rank is equal to the new rank times 5.]

[Should a Legendary Weapon start to experiment?]

"Probably best if you didn't spend these Evolution Points too casually. They seem to be a more finite resource than monsters' parts, but feel free to look over the lists. If you see anything that really interests you, you can get it." Shirou told the Sword, which immediately started to go through the list of abilities.

"Who are you talking to, degojaru?" Yami asked.

"Hm? Oh right, you wouldn't know. The Legendary Holy Sword is conscious and has her own free will, to an extent. I've named her Jian, because Legendary Holy Sword is a mouthful and a half and gets tiring to say in conversation." Shirou explained.

"…Excuse me, degojaru?" Yami said in disbelief, even as she decapitated a trio of skeletons.

[Sword Ability Unlocked – Telekinetic Sword: Lv 1 (2 Evolution Points to next level) – Cost: 1 MP per second – Effect: The Legendary Sword can move itself within a range of fifteen meters of the Hero. Attack = Hero's Attack/10, Defense = Hero's Defense/10, Speed = Hero's Speed/20]

[3 Evolution Points remaining]

The spare swords from [Dual Wielder] that Shirou had been keeping sheathed on his back came to life, slow drawing themselves out and attacking the nearby monsters, which retreated back.

"Huh, that's new." Shirou commented, before noticing just how much 1 MP per second was, and that it was coming from his MP supply. Actually, it looked like he had to pay the cost twice, once for each sword. "Make sure you don't drain me of all of my MP, and don't venture too far. I don't want to be punished because you forgot the fifteen-meter rule."

[A Legendary Sword will be careful, though this is rather fun.]

The blades artfully moved through the area and Jian said so, before dive bombing a pair of giant spiders impaling the creatures to the ground.

Shirou felt Jian's cheer turning to embarrassment as the blades wobbled about within the spider's bodies.

[A Legendary Sword appears to be stuck. Would a Hero provide assistance?]

It took her a few seconds to realize she could dismiss the swords and conjure up a new pair. Though she made sure to shock Shirou for laughing.

* * *

"Naofumi-sama, the village has been cleared out. Everyone was evacuated to safety." Raphtalia reported as she returned with the rest of the evacuation party.

"Good. Let's start pressing forward and try to find a good spot to draw attention." Naofumi said with a nod.

The evacuation had taken a whole ten minutes, so about fourteen minutes after the Wave started, in which Naofumi's group had already killed over three thousand monsters. But that had been with them having to watch out for the civilians. With the entire group focused on the monsters, he was sure they could do more.

A few of the villagers had wanted to stay behind to help with the defense, but Naofumi turned them away. Level 1 villagers wouldn't have been any help anyways. They would have been more in the way than helpful.

Besides, Naofumi didn't want to share the EXP.

[Naofumi: Lv 41]

[Raphtalia: Lv 40(*)]

[Midori: Lv 35]

[Sadeena: Lv 21]

[Keel: Lv 19]

[Sakura: Lv 19]

[Firo: Lv 60]

[Rita: Lv 59]

[Azu: Lv 59]

Sadeena, Keel and Sakura were all leveled up to the point were Naofumi wouldn't need to worry about any of them accidently getting one shot, they were already had higher stats than the monsters did. Though he was going to leave Sakura where she was, hidden within his backpack, protected by his own defense stat. Regardless of her stats, the tiny Filolial was still tiny and not capable of fighting back.

Still, none of them needed to take a hit. That was what Naofumi was for.

"In coming!" Sadeena shouted pointing to the sky.

Naofumi looked up to see fire raining down from the sky. "Everyone, get close!" Naofumi shouted as he lifted his Shield. "[Meteor Shield]!" The force field expanded out in a two-meter radius around Naofumi, allowing his party in while pushing away all the monsters. The others gathered around him for shelter from the incoming attack. All save for one.

"No! Not Firo's carriage!" Firo screamed, running towards her wagon.

"Get back here stupid!" Naofumi shouted as the bird jumped onto the carriage and spread out its wings, as if trying to shelter it from the fire.

The storm his and the bolts of fire bounced harmlessly off of Naofumi's [Meteor Shield]… and they also bounced harmlessly off of a barrier around the cart.

"Don't worry. Sensei enchanted Firo's carriage to ward off magical attacks. It's also fireproof and can resist heavy physical force." Rita explained.

"So cool." Midori said, more than a little envy in his voice.

What the hell is with these Filolial? And who pimps out their wagon?

"The village." Rita gasped, drawing Naofumi back to reality where he saw exactly was she saw.

The Riyuuto village was on fire. The large AOE fire spell had hit everyone and the buildings were burning, along with many of the monster corpses and the nearby fields.

It was all on fire.

The inn where the innkeeper had let them stay in the barn with Midori, even when they had no money, and even gave them a meal for cheap. The man had helped teach Raphtalia how to eat with a fork and knife without getting food all over herself. He could remember how happy she had looked as she said that she wouldn't embarrass Naofumi anymore.

Then there was the smithy, where the old blacksmith had given Naofumi some Prani Ore and had pointed him in the direction of a closed down mine where he could get more. And the range where the farmer had helped him learn more about how to take care of Midori and about his sub-breed.

The people of Riyuuto Village might not have known that he had been the Shield Hero, but they had treated him fairly all the same. Better than most would treat a total stranger. And now, their livelihood was burning around him.

"Water spell! Do everything you can to douse the fire!" Naofumi shouted, bringing Azu, Rita and Sadeena into action. It was no use. The bodies of the bug monsters burned far too well.

Why? Why did this have to happen? The monsters were under control. They might have been causing property damage, but nothing like this.

That was when the second valley came. [Meteor Shield] had already come off of its fifteen second cooldown, so Naofumi just used it again. "What the hell man! There are allies over here!"

Of course, that was the entire point, wasn't it. Naofumi glared at the approaching knight squadron.

"Hmph, so that is the Shield Hero... He's surprisingly resilient." The man at the front, what appeared to be the leader of the group said while threw Naofumi a glance and spat on the ground as he uttered those words.

Raphtalia was the first to show her displeasure, moving up to the man, quick as a flash and with blade drawn. The knight staggered back and barely had time to get his weapon up to defend himself. His eyes widened in slight fear as the metal of his sword was slowly being cut by the blade that Shirou had provided them.

"What was the meaning of your actions against Naofumi-sama?! Depending on your answer, you might still be allowed to live!" Raphtalia growled at the man, her hair was rippling as her untrained magical energy vibrated through her, the way Rita had taught her to do for intimidation.

"A companion of the Shield Hero, huh?" The Knight grunted, trying to appear unconcerned as his eyes looked about. Then he added something under his breath that was hard to hear but sounded like. "I thought it had no proper companions."

"I am Naofumi-sama's sword! I shall not forgive any act of disrespect!" Raphtalia told the man, before making a flick of her wrist, causing the knight's blade to split and go flying through the air. She then returned her blade to a threaten position against the man.

"H… how dare a demi-human try to threaten us knights!?"

"You have neglected your duties of protecting civilians and attacked your own allies. For those reasons you people are unfit to be call knights!" Raphtalia was really mad with the knight. So much so that she didn't notice the others trying to surround her.

"Raphtalia, back up! [Shield Prison]!" Naofumi shouted, using his skill to create a cage of shields around the group of knights the moment the girl was clear.

"Damn, you basta…" The Knight growled at Naofumi who just glared back.

"I'm not even going to bother pointing out that the monsters are the real enemies here, because I doubt you even care about them." Naofumi said, his voice cold even as hot rage pumped through him. "Do you even both to check if the village had been evacuated or not? Did you even care if you had burned all the innocent people who lived here alive?"

The Knight spat out a reply, but Naofumi couldn't even hear him.

Hate. Hate! HATE!

These bastards had come here to kill him, and they didn't care who they hurt to do so. They had wanted to attack Raphtalia just now. To team up on her and kill her. Even if they were too weak to be any real threat, trying to attack her was UNFORGIVEABLE.

"Come on. There is nothing more we can do here for the village." Naofumi said, turning his back on the Knights. "We should find a better choke area. Somewhere we can take care of as many monsters as is possible."

"You are just going to let them go?" Raphtalia asked in surprise.

"…No." Naofumi said. "Let them die by their own fire."

Sure enough, the fire was spreading, and fast. The knights were already panicking as the fire came closer and closer to their cage. They tried to bash at it, but the [Shield Prison] was too strong for them.

The knights shouted, they cursed, they begged for mercy, but Naofumi didn't care. His group piled up in Firo's carriage and set off. He used a [Hate Reaction] as they left, centered around the Knights, so that even if the fire didn't get them, the monsters would.

"Good riddance." Naofumi said. The men's screams of pain and panic reaching them as they drove away.

He didn't even notice the volley of a hundred swords moving towards the trapped Knights, killing the monsters and breaking their cage.

Still, even with their freedom and survival, the Knights did not pursue the Shield Hero. They slunk away in fear, knowing just how close they had been to dying.

* * *

"Well, at least they aren't stupid enough to continue." Shirou said with a sigh.

"What is it, degojaru?" Yami asked. Her vision not as good as Shirou's. Though she could still see the signs of a fire.

"A group attacked the Shield Hero's party with fire magic." Atla reported. "Everyone is alright. The Shield's group is heading away from the village and towards a denser group of monsters."

"The village was set on fire. A group of Knights, probably with a connection to the Church, tried to attack Naofumi-san, but failed, setting the village on fire instead. Naofumi got angry and tried to contain them in some kind of cage made of shield, and then left them to burn to death." Shirou explained, filling in what Atla's vision wouldn't tell her from that distance.

"I see, a pity, degojaru. It is likely that only a few of them were with the Church, degojaru. It is a shame when the young have to die for the mistakes of their superiors, degojaru." Yami said with a shrug, as if that was the way of the world.

"That's why I saved them." Shirou said, with a nod of agreement. "But this itself will cause more problems later on."

"No good deed goes unpunished, degojaru." Yami said, giving Shirou a sidelong look.

Shirou sighed and nodded as he killed another giant skeleton and received another level up notice.

[Shirou: Lv 69]

[Atla: Lv 33]

[Fohl: Lv 32]

[Yami: Lv 76]

[Legendary Holy Sword (Jian): Lv Nul – Evolution Rank 3 (28 Evolution Points)]

The Wave had been going on for about 20 minutes so far, and they had gained a good deal of EXP. Fohl was back to the same level he was before the reset, with his stats being double what they had been before.

Shirou wanted to hold out longer, until the two were ready for a Class Up, but because of their Hakuko, they wouldn't be able to Class Up until they were level 50, and they didn't max out level without it until they were level 60.

At the rate they were going, the two would make 60 in another hour or so.

The problem was, Motoyasu and Itsuki were already starting to engage the Wave Boss.

Issei would need to provide some kind of support for the fight, if he wanted to save face.

"Guess it is time to clear the field." Shirou said, pulling out an SP potion and preparing his Od. Jian quickly changed the four swords he had equipped to swords that possessed the SP cost reduction Status Enchantment.

[One Hundred Swords]

[Sword Change]

[One Thousand Sword]

[Ten Thousand Swords]

A large draft of the potion and a pause as Shirou locked on to every monster within miles.

"A wave of death approaching you."

"You cannot run."

"You cannot resist."

"For I march for [One Hundred Thousand Sword]."

* * *

[Shirou: Lv 70]

[Atla: Lv 43]

[Fohl: Lv 43]

[Yami: Lv 77]

[Legendary Holy Sword (Jian): Lv Nul – Evolution Rank 4 (48 Evolution Points)]

* * *

The battlefield had become like a graveyard of blades.

Malty had been there as Motoyasu-sama and Itsuki-sama had almost effortlessly pushed back the Wave all the way to the origin with minimal assistance from the others. The powerful attacks blasting back the monsters that stood in their way.

They were powerful and gallant and… completely shown up.

When they had finally reached the disgusting Zombie after a two-mile trek on foot through the monster infested areas, swords began to rain down from sky all around them. Each and every one of them hitting a monster without causing any damage to their allies, and more than ten of them piercing the Boss's body. With the pressure removed and the Boss already hobbled, the Bow and Spear defeated the monster easily.

But even as the creature died and the sky returned to normal, they were still in shock.

As they walked back, they passed more and more monsters with swords lodged through their bodies. They must have numbered in the tens of thousands. A significant percentage of the total number of monsters that had spawn during the Wave. All of them killed from afar by a rain of swords. A show of absolute dominance by the Sword Hero.

As they approached the main road, a scream of pain echoed through the trees, causing Motoyasu and Itsuki to once again become alert and spring into action. They ran towards the source of the noise and stopped when they found a large group of knights, one of whom was on the ground, clutching at a bleeding stump where his hand should be. Others were quickly trying to preform battlefield first aide to the wound in order to stop the bleeding until it could be properly healed with magic.

Standing above the injured knight was the Sword Hero himself, Issei, covered from head to toe in blood, as if his clothes weren't enchanted against it. He was glaring down at the knight with complete apathy.

"What's going on!? What happened!?" Motoyasu asked as he came to a stop, weapon at the ready.

"I am just disciplining this country's military forces." Issei said with disinterest, not even turning his head.

"You are what!?" Itsuki shouted in astonishment.

"These 'knights' used a wide area of effect fire spell on a nearby village, burning it to the ground. The man here confessed to not having checked to make sure that such actions were even necessary. Nor did they make sure that the area was free of allies and that the civilians were evacuated." Issei said, looking over the group. "Such behavior will not be tolerated. This time, I only cut off the hand of the man who gave the order, as you are all more valuable alive than died. But next time, everyone involved will die by my blade. Understood?"

"Y…Yes. Hero-sama." The injured knight managed to say through his pain, before being taken away.

Another one of the knights, the second in command stepped forward and started to congratulate the heroes and tell them about the planned party where they would receive their rewards for participating in the Wave. Though Malty wasn't listening. She could only watch the Sword Hero with sideways glances as he stood with his three Shadows. A look of contempt on his face.

Powerful, discipline, and with the same kind of cruelty mixed with mercy that her mother had once used to bring the noble class into line. Motoyasu would have never attacked the knight. He would never have had the stomach to make an example out of him with his own hands. He might have shamed him, or even dueled him if he wanted to impress some more women. But he wouldn't have drawn blood. He even attempted to argue with Issei, saying that Heroes are not meant to do such things.

"I will do whatever it takes to defeat the Waves, and I won't let this country's corrupt military drag me down."

He wasn't a 'Hero' in the traditional sense of the word, but he had everything that mattered.

If only he had been her Hero.

…Perhaps it wasn't too late.

* * *

 **The Evolution system comes from 'Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita' or 'I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated'**

* * *

 **The Naofumi's party strong enough not to need the Knights' help, he is willing to leave them to die, rather than just threatening too in order to get their assistance.**


	39. Chapter 38

"As expected of our heroes. I cannot contain my surprise after seeing the difference between the casualties from this battle and the last. The Kingdom owes you our gratitude. Tonight, we celebrate. Relax and enjoy yourselves to your heart's content." The king said with as much force as he could muster. His head was still killing him, but he had to at least make an appearance at the party.

Once the sun had gone down and the night sky had taken over, the king had made an appearance at the grandiose banquet held within the castle. It wouldn't do for the acting monarch to fall ill in such desperate times, even if he once the stand in for a stand in.

Still, he would soon use any excuse possible to retire for the night. He needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere he could think. He also like someone to talk things over with, but that was out of the question.

Had there always been this many total bastards around? Even in the snake pit of the royal court, you would expect to find at least one trustworthy person, but as the King looked around him for a confident for the first time in ages, he found that most of the old crowd was gone, and that ambitious young men stood in their place, as well as the devout of the Church.

The was nothing exactly wrong with ambition, he had been ambitious in his youth. But absolutely none of them were people that he could talk to in order to help clear his head.

As he sat that the throne, making harmless small talk with the nobles, he couldn't help but let his eyes glance towards the Sword Hero and his three shadows.

The girl was easy to spot, being that she stood between her master and the rest of the party, attempting to intimidate any who drew close, while her brother ate the provided food behind his facemask.

That girl. Could she really be related to Aultcray's dead sister, Lucia? It seemed impossible. She was too young. But if she was…

'What have I done?'

In his grief over the death of his sister, Aultcray had attempted genocide, only brought to a stop by his wife's strong hand and a horrible depression that gripped him, sapping away his will to continue the fight. He had killed many before that happened, including the Hakuko's King.

While he had never seen the body, he had saw the blood stains and had been more than willing to believe people when they told him that it was the Hakuko that were responsible for killing her, just like they had with the rest of his family.

…When had he started to believe that?

In his youth, he was always suspicious of the claim that Hakuko terrorists decided to infiltrate a country on the opposite side of the continent in order to kill a royal family who had next to no dealings with them. They had either been just hired thugs or scapegoats for the normal betrayal that occurred throughout that country. He had always suspected his psychopath of an elder brother more than the demihumans.

When had that changed?

When had he been consumed by this idea that demihumans were evil? When did he start putting his faith in the Church of the Three Heroes? …When had he accepted that the Shield Hero was evil incarnated? It didn't make sense. He wasn't even born in Melromarc, why would he follow that extremist cult? Why had he let them control him? Why had he let them surround him? Was his depression so great that he lost all of his wits entirely?

His head hurt, and nothing made sense anymore. Maybe they weren't his sister's children. Maybe he was just mistaken.

'Onii-sama.'

…He had to find out for sure.

"Tell the Sword Hero I would like a private audience with him in my study." The King said as he stood up, rubbing his head so hard that his crown became dislodged and nearly fell from his head. "Tell him to bring his companions."

"At once, Your Majesty." The man said with a bow.

'Don't call me that.' Aultcray wanted to snap. He wasn't the ruler. His wife was the Queen. He was not a usurper. Then he realized that his attendant was a man from the Church and so he held his tongue.

How long has it been like this?

* * *

Shirou had been having an uneventful evening, as he didn't really have any interest talking with the nobles that had gathered for the party, and they weren't brave enough to approach him, not with Atla sending out waves of killing intent every time she felt negative intentions directed towards Shirou. Which was any time anyone looked at him.

There was not a single person in the entire room who didn't look at the Heroes with greed, fear or… lust. And when it came to Shirou, Atla had a zero-tolerance policy for such things, no matter how many times Shirou reminded her that he was more than aware of the people's ill intentions and could handle it himself.

While Fohl was just eating and trying to talk Atla into joining him, and Yami simply stood sentinel over the gathering, Shirou allowed himself to chat with Jian. Talking without speaking felt awkward for Shirou, which was why he preferred to speak out loud with her, but Jian could easily read his thoughts.

The topic of discussion was how to use the Evolution Points.

It seemed as though Jian could use them in order to gain several interesting abilities, ranging from telekinesis and basic magic to radar, the ability to Class Up allies without the Hourglasses, and even her own MP and OP reserves that Shirou would be able to tap into in a pinch and that she could use for herself. Though the cost of the more unique abilities was rather steep.

The radar skill would cost 50 Evolution points apiece, and the MP and OP reserves would cost 10 per level. While the use of more common water magic, support magic, telekinesis and even the rarer Dragon Pulse Command magic only cost 2 points to level up.

'Why not get the telepathy skill? It's pretty cheap, and you would be able to talk with others.' Shirou suggested.

[Unnecessary. Why would a Legendary Weapon need to talk to anyone save for its Hero? It would only serve as a waste of resources.]

'I can think of a good number of ways that telepathy could be useful. For example, coordinating attacks.' Shirou countered.

[A Hero has never attempted to coordinate attacks before. A Hero has only focused on individual's skill training, never group coordination. And the Hero wouldn't be the one gaining telepathy, a Legendary Weapon would, and a Legendary Weapon has no interest in speaking with others.]

Shirou couldn't think of a reply. She was technically right. He had always focused on individual strength rather than group tactics. Perhaps he would need to rectify that in the future. Though he always felt like the children needed more individual training in order to draw out their talents.

He couldn't find time for group activities.

[Besides, a Legendary Weapon has already decided on what ability she wants to get.]

'And what might that be?'

[It's a surprise.]

'…Now I'm just starting to worry.'

*Zap*

Shirou let out a small hiss as Jian punished him for his smart mouthed thoughts. It seemed she was becoming more sensitive to teasing.

"Hero-sama." Shirou was surprised when Atla allowed a thin man to approach them unimpeded, until the man bowed and merely delivered a message. "His Majesty requests the presence of you and your companions in the privacy of his study. Would you like me to escort you there?"

"Of course. I won't want to keep the King waiting." Shirou said, not sure exactly what this was about, but not about to pass up the chance to keep tabs on one of the major players.

"Thank you, Hero-sama. Please follow me." The man said with a bow and led them from the room, even as the King himself left.

* * *

They had thanked him.

The villagers had thanked Naofumi for saving their lives, but he didn't feel as though he deserved it. While their lives had been saved, they had also been ruined, and Naofumi had been powerless to stop it. He had watched as everything they owned went up in smoke.

They had assured him that they could rebuild and that it was their lives that mattered the most, but it wouldn't be easy.

Raphtalia had been happy, as no children were orphaned. She felt like that would mean that no one would end up like her, but Naofumi wasn't so sure. Families fall on hard times, not enough money to put food on the table for every, hard choices are made. A daughter is sold into slavery, or perhaps a son. Wasn't that how things usually ended up?

It wouldn't happen immediately, but if reconstruction went badly, or they couldn't salvage the fields, then within a month or two, someone would make that final decision.

And it was all because those knights were trying to murder him. To have him die in such a way that it could be blamed on the Wave.

This would happen again, wouldn't it? The Church would look for convenient times to snuff him out, and as he survived, the people around him would suffer.

All because of that blasted Church.

He needed a way to keep them in line. Outside of the Waves, he could just disappear, like Issei does. Shirou had given him a ring that he had magically tricked the Legendary Shield into believing was a shield. He could use that to remove the one feature that everyone looks for when checking for a Shield Hero. But during the Waves, when they would be trying to stealthily get rid of him while making it look like an accident, he would need a deterrent.

Like an army of his own.

The mercenaries were powerful, but he couldn't count on them being there for every Wave. Besides, numbers would be better for scaring away anyone with thoughts of assassinating a 'Devil'. Flipping through the Shield's help menu, he found that there wasn't a technical limit to the number of people that the Shield could register as allies and bring with them to the Wave. There also wasn't a timer on how long before the Wave the permission had to be gained.

Why hadn't Motoyasu and Itsuki brought soldiers when them anyways? If their plan was to bum rush the boss as quickly as possible, taking an army with them would have been handy. Did they not even think to try it?

Still, Naofumi had one overarching problem, finding people he could trust.

Shirou's party was a given as far as trustworthy went, they have proven that time and again, but who else was there? How could Naofumi build up a large group if he couldn't trust anyone?

"Naofumi-sama, I thought I told you not to get into a drinking contest with Sadeena-nee!" Rita said sharply, pulling Naofumi out of his thoughts.

"Wha?" He said, glancing down at the cup of juice in his hand and taking a sniff. Sure enough, it was wine. "I didn't even notice." He mumbled, putting the cup down next to over a dozen others. Hadn't a few cups been carried away already?

Explained the looks he was getting from the people around the room.

"You hear that, he didn't even notice! He's already drank two whole kegs worth and hadn't even noticed!" Sadeena said with a bellowing laugh. When she put it like that, Naofumi kind of had to use the bathroom. Not urgently, but a mild discomfort. Sadeena had taken on her Orca battle form a while ago, probably to help with her drinking. Even with her blubbery skin, a flush was still recognizable on her face.

Great, she was drunk.

"You two have had enough." Raphtalia snapped at the woman before looking to Naofumi. "Come on, you should eat something to help settle your stomach."

Raphtalia grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the tables in the center of the room, where Firo and Midori, and to a lesser extent Keel and Azu, were eating like starving animals, while others looked on in horror. Sakura was eating as well but was still on a strict mashed seed diet until she grew another foot. Though, at the rate she was expanding, she would be joining in devouring all the food in the kingdom before the party was over.

Naofumi had Midori give each of them powerful antidotes before their 'meal'. Even Naofumi took one, though he doubted he would need it. The only individual who hadn't taken an antidote was Midori, being completely immune to poisons by nature. As unlikely as it was that the bastards would risk poisoning themselves, Naofumi wouldn't risk his slave's health on assumptions.

He vaguely wondered what would happen if Firo or any of the others were poisoned. Shirou might even be mad enough to kill the King.

…Not that he wanted such events to transpire.

There was no doubt in Naofumi's mind that the mercenary could do it. There had already been warnings about escaped prisoners from the castle, showing that Shirou had been serious about breaking in while everyone was distracted. And if you can break into a nation's capital building and then just walk away with a group of prisoners in tow, without anyone noticing for hours, you can do anything.

"You should try this, Naofumi-sama. It's really good." Raphtalia said, holding up a plate with a little bit of everything.

Humoring the girl, he took a few bites. "Hm, not bad."

"Yeah, not as good as Master's cooking though." Firo said between mouthfuls of meatloaf.

"Slightly disappointing." Azu agreed.

"Huff, that guys cooking wasn't all that great." Keel said, momentarily stopping his… her? eating. "He must have done some kind of evil brainwashing magic on it. No one as bad as him could cook that good."

Keel still insisted that Shirou was evil incarnate. Something that Naofumi was learning to just ignore. Before the eating, Sadeena had taken Keel aside and explained to her the differences between genders. Keel had been shell-shocked for all of five minutes, before continuing to behave as if nothing had happened, around the same time they started to bring out the food.

"Naofumi-sama's cooking is better than this too. I wish I was eating it instead." Midori said, nodding along, though he also didn't stop eating it at full speed.

Naofumi just shook his head at the gluttons as he continued his own meal before noticing that Raphtalia wasn't eating anything. "Aren't you going to have some?" Naofumi asked.

"Ah, no. I mean, I already ate a little." Raphtalia said, shaking her head. "I don't want to eat too much, or I'll end up gaining weight."

"Gaining weight?" Naofumi said, confused. Did Raphtalia think she was fat? This could be bad. Anorexia was a serious health hazard. They made college students like him sit through all kinds of seminars about how much damage it can do to the body. Suddenly, Naofumi was deeply regretting the lighthearted comments he made about how much she had eaten during her growth spirt. "Raphtalia, you worked hard today, that means you need to eat in order to replace what you lost. You don't need to worry about gaining weight. I'm sorry if I ever said anything to make you feel otherwise."

"…Does Naofumi-sama prefer fat girls?" Raphtalia asked, blushing slightly.

"…Huh?" Alright, now Naofumi was completely lost. He wouldn't say he preferred fat girls, as that Bitch of a Princess had caused the thought of being romantically involved with a girl to make Naofumi feel sick to his stomach.

Seeing Naofumi's face, Raphtalia just sighed, took a fork and picked a bit of food off of Naofumi's plate. "Just forget I said anything." She mumbled, sounding a little sad. Did she really not want to eat it? Naofumi hadn't meant it as an order… though if she really did have Anorexia, then he might just have to start ordering her to eat healthy.

He didn't want to have to hurt her, but malnutrition is serious, especially to someone who does strenuous physical work.

"So Naofumi-sama is like that too." Rita said, giving Raphtalia a pat on the back and a look of understanding. "Sensei doesn't seem to get that I'm not a child anymore either. …Or that I like him."

"Huh, Rita-nee and Shirou-sama?" Raphtalia said, covering her mouth in shock.

"What's with that expression?" Rita pouted back.

"I… I'm sorry. It's just that he's so much older and…" Raphtalia started to apologize.

Naofumi stopped paying attention as he noticed the King leaving the room, with Issei, the Hero of the Sword, following soon after.

That made him uncomfortable.

Issei had provided them with range support, even though his weapon didn't seem qualified for it. He had also completely cleared the entire Wave with a rain of swords. It showed a gap in numerical power that Naofumi hadn't been expecting out of Issei. Along with the level of control he had.

Issei had been supposed to be the one that didn't know much about the world, like Naofumi himself. Yet he clearly had grown strong fast anyways. This probably meant he had a backer with access to vast stores of helpful information, similar to the way Naofumi had Shirou. If Issei feels that the backer is as key to his survival as the Mercenaries have been for Naofumi's, what exactly could that backer get him to do?

If that backer is the Trash King, then Naofumi could be in serious trouble. Issei had already made it clear that they weren't friends. They were situational allies at best. Issei might have provided assistance in protecting the innocent, but he had also rescued the knights that had attempted to murder Naofumi and his group. Though in the end, he had cut off their leader's hand.

Naofumi wanted to follow them, but couldn't think of a way to do it, and before he even had the chance to try, Motoyasu showed up.

"Naofumi!" The man shouted his face contorted with hate as he approached.

"…What is it now, Motoyasu?" Naofumi said with a sigh. The evening had been going well, for a night surrounded by people who hated him.

The man stopped in front of Naofumi, pulled off one of his gloves and threw it at the Shield Hero's feet. "Duel with me!"

"…Huh?"

* * *

"Thank you for accepting my invitation. There are a few things that I wish to ask of you." Aultcray said as the door closed, leaving him alone with the Sword Hero.

"Of course, Your Highness. I would be glad to answer any of your questions to the best of my abilities." Issei said with a bow at the waist, though his eyes were tracing the room and he seemed to even sniff the air a little. "But before we start, Yami, Sol, how many do you notice?"

"Huh? How many what?" The boy Shadow asked, confused, though the others seemed to know what the man meant.

"There is one in a crevasse behind the bookcase." The adult woman, presumably Yami.

"I see. How about you, Aurora. What can you see?" Issei asked the blind girl.

"There is the one behind the bookcase. They are already moving away. But there is also one in the rafters. I can also sense some magic inside of one of the books. That one. It doesn't seem to be transmitting anything though." The child said, pointing towards a forgotten book that lay near a side table.

"No transmitter you say." Issei walked towards the book and looked at it without touching it before placing a finger on it. "A recording device. Something to be dropped off and picked up later. Good work, Aurora. Spotting both Shadows and the magic squire. You get top marks. Yami, you could use some work."

Aurora puffed out her chest with pride at being praised. Aultcray couldn't help but be shocked. The girl was blind. He had found it surprising that she could even move around on her own, let alone see things that couldn't be seen.

"And how much of it did you notice, Hero-sama?" Yami asked, voice remaining in the flat manner of the Shadows.

"All of it, of course." Issei said with a smile at the adult Shadow, before glancing to the King. "Were these yours? Or should we dispose of them? The Shadows have already fled, but we can still hunt them down if you want."

"…Just dispose of the recording device. Let us not waste our time with curious parties." Aultcray said, leaning forward in his chair and rubbing his temple. Even if the man had only done it as a means of showing off, he might have just saved the King from a lot of trouble. 'So even here is not safe.'

"The system you have set up to prevent eavesdropping here is imperfect. There are a few spots were the outside world can still fit into your bubble, and it doesn't detect people leaving recording devices inside of it, with or without transmitters." Issei said as he ripped a page out of the book, revealing the glowing magical writing, which he then tore up.

'It never needed to be perfect. It was more about privacy then keeping out actual spies. I'm not the real monarch.' Aultcray though bitterly.

"I'll inform the guard captain about this later. For now, I have another matter I would like to touch on." Aultcray's eyes went to the two children. "You two. I understand that the Sword Hero believes that you come from the Blood of Heroes. Could you tell me the name of your mother?"

The two children looked to Issei, who nodded his permission before the boy replied. "Our mother's name was Alucia."

"…Alucia." Aultcray repeated. 'Lucia. Alucia… It couldn't be just a coincidence.' "Did your mother suffer from a rare illness? And was she blind as well?"

"Ah, yeah." Sol said, seeming surprised that Aultcray would know such a thing.

"I see." Aultcray's entire body felt numb. "Tell me, where is your mother now?"

"…She died. Same as our father and grandfather." Sol said, more than a little aggressively. It must have been a touchy subject.

Aultcray closed his eyes as his hopes were dashed.

He had suspected as much. Even if she hadn't been killed, she had been holding on by a thread fifteen years ago. Expecting her to be still alive after birthing two children was asking too much of this cruel world.

"You were related to our mother. Weren't you?" Aurora asked, surprising her brother. "Your aura is almost identical to my brother's."

"Wha? Really?" Sol said, clearly slack jawed, even behind his mask.

"…I had a younger sister by the name of Lucia. She disappeared fifteen years ago, presumed to be murdered. She suffered her whole life from a rare decease, one that cost her her eyes. Aurora looks exactly the way she did when she was young. She's her spitting image." Aultcray admitted.

"Small world." Issei mumbled, scratching his chin. "I figured they must have been distant relatives. Royal families tend to produce a lot of illegitimate children. I never thought they could be direct relatives."

"So you didn't know about our relationship?" Aultcray asked, giving the Hero an eye.

"Forgive me Your Highness, but I have only been in this world for a single month. There is a lot I don't know."

"Understandable." Aultcray said, finding some comfort in the idea that the Sword Hero wasn't somehow omnipotent in his knowledge. "You seem very healthy. Healthy enough to go adventuring with a Legendary Hero."

Aurora nodded her head. Aultcray like to imagine he could see his sister's smile on her face, behind the mask. "The Hero of the Sword cured me, whenever he bought our freedom."

Aultcray froze. Not sure which part of that statement struck him more; the fact that the illness could be cured, or that the two children, his newly discovered niece and nephew, had been slaves. In the end, it was the idea of his sister's children in cages as their lives drained away that won out. "Bought your freedom?"

It was the brother who slowly nodded his head. "After our grandfather died, we didn't have any more family. Our family's servants helped us for as long as they could, but the Clan was on the decline and eventually the money ran out. My sister's medicine was expensive."

…Clan?

Aultcray's eyes shot towards Issei, who's mouth momentarily twitched. The slightest of signs that showed he had noticed the boy's error.

Humans rarely ever used the word Clan.

'Oh my God.'

His sister had ran away from home and changed her name to marry a demihuman. And if the rumors of the Hakuko being spotted nearby the house at the time were true, that would mean…

Aultcray's entire world shook on its foundations. The basis for everything that Aultcray had done wasn't just called into question, it was turned on its head, and now he had to face the truth of his actions.

He had murdered thousands. Tens of thousands. All of it with his own hands. He had killed settlement after settlement, using the power of the Legendary Star Cane. He had declared a one-man crusade against them. He had carved a path of vengeance so bloody that even years later, people still feared his name. And they had been innocent. His sister had ran away from him in order to live among them.

…Was it possible that Lucia had been in one of those houses he had blown to bits using the Star Weapon's Revelations level blasting magic? The thought alone made the man want to throw up. Tears were coming to his eyes.

He needed to do something. He needed to fix his mistakes. He needed to repent.

'There is no repenting for what I have done.'

…Perhaps he should just kill himself. It was the coward's way out, but in truth, he was a coward.

"Please don't hurt yourself, Your Highness." The King was dragged back by the feel of someone touching his hand. He looked down to see Aurora looking up at him, her closed eyes barely visible through the mask. "Your aura is turning in on itself. My brother's aura always became like that too when he was considering self-harm, back when he was first forced to fight as a gladiator. I don't know what's wrong, but please don't hurt yourself."

"…I." Aultcray tried to find words but couldn't. He just leaned back in his chair.

He felt it; all of his self-hatred. Honestly, he deserved to die. But before he did, he needed to at least try to make some sort of amends. Even if it was far too late for true redemption.

Thinking back over the last month and a half, he couldn't help but to groan. His wife would be furious with him.

He had summoned the four heroes without her presence or permission and had risked starting a world war during a time of crisis. Worse yet, he had even set up the Shield Hero as a villain, and further provoked the Demihuman countries. He had even ignored her messages. How had he been so stupid? Even if he wanted to go to war, there were better ways of going about it. Ways that would have had a higher chance of victory.

…Wait, none of this had been his plan in the first place. Malty had requested that he help with framing the 'Shield Demon', and he had readily agreed to it. It had also been her who had suggested trying to summon all four Heroes. How had she even known that was possi… The King's head throbbed again.

He needed time to work this all out. If he was ever going to face Lucia again in the afterlife, he needed to do SOMETHING. The only question was what, and perhaps how? "I'm sorry. I need some time to think. Please, leave me."

The party had voiced disapproval of Aultcray being alone, but eventually they agreed to leave, after getting a promise out of him that he wouldn't hurt himself.

"So, what do I do now?" Aultcray mumbled as he rubbed at his closed eyes. "Some King of Wisdom I turned out to be. I've screwed up everything and allowed myself to be surrounded by nutjob cultists. I couldn't fix things even if I wanted too."

"Since when have you been so quick to give up?" The King froze at the familiar voice, and his head shot up to see an orb on his table that hadn't been there before. Staring back at him from within the orb was the image of his wife, the Queen, looking back at him from behind her fan. "It's good to see you have finally started regaining some of your faculties, after all of these years, Aultcray."

* * *

Shirou hadn't been sure what to do when Fohl let the word 'Clan' slip. He was convinced that he would have some serious explaining to do. He hadn't expected the man to break down into tears, or for Atla to tell them that the King was preparing to kill himself out of sheer guilt.

He still wasn't convinced that leaving the man alone was a good idea. Especially not when he was the last one seen with the guy. Only Yami seemed to think that everything went well and left an orb to allow the Queen to contact her husband directly, without anyone spying on them.

Shirou shouldn't have bothered going to the party. He hadn't needed the money, nor the connections. He should have left town already and continued on with his mission to synchronize with the other Hourglasses.

He should just talk slip a message to Rita, Firo and Azu and get out of there before something else happens. He'd already been spending the entire night staying as far away from the Shield Hero's stupid dog out of fear of being outed.

Shirou was walking through the corridors, back towards the main hall, when something reached his ears.

Someone was crying.

Looking around, Shirou spotted the Princess Malty, as well as one of the other members of the Spear Hero's party together in a spot that looked out of the way, but that Shirou would have to pass. The Princess seemed to be sobbing into her hands while her friend made to comfort her.

Shirou slowed in his approach as his mind slowly tried to process what was going on and what to do.

"Hero-sama, this is a trap. The Princess Malty is likely going to seek to ensnare you." Yami whispered to Shirou.

"Yes. I know. But still." Shirou mumbled. He felt his feet slowly walking towards the two girls. "Is something the matter?"

The two looked up at him and Shirou was surprised to see the state the Princess was in. Reddened, puffy eyes, slightly smudged blush that didn't mess up the overall effect of her makeup. She looked like a genuine mess, though still rather attractive in a way.

"I… Nothing is wrong. Please don't worry, Hero-sama." Malty said, making an attempt to hide her face, though her friend gripped her hand. "I don't want any trouble. Just forget you saw me."

Malty made as to leave, but the other girl pulled on Malty's shoulder, stopping her. "Myne, what are you doing? I know its bad, but maybe the Sword Hero can help us." The girl said.

The Princess opened her mouth as if to object, but then paused before slowly lowering her arms and looking up at Shirou with her glistening green eyes. She then proceeded to tell Shirou a tear-jerking tale of how the Spear Hero was threatening and extorting them. Using his girls like sex slaves and forcing their families to fork out money to him. They pained him as a human trafficker and said that he even threatened to kill the King if they didn't comply. They then begged Shirou to rescue them. Saying that only he, as a greater Hero would be able to protect them from the Spear Hero's wrath.

Though it all, Shirou remained silent. And when they were finally finished, he just sighed and turned away. "Come on you three. Let's get moving."

"W…What?" Malty stammered in shock.

"You aren't going to help them?" Fohl asked, disbelief in his voice. He was likely suckered in.

"There is nothing to help them with." Atla informed the boy. "They lied about the whole thing."

"No! Everything we said was true!" Malty said, shaking her head.

"I think I've been a little hard on Motoyasu's intelligence, being suckered in by your claims about the Shield Hero, but after seeing this I think I can understand. You are quite the actor." Shirou said as he walked away.

"No, please, you have to help us!" Malty was shouting now, trying to grab Shirou's arm, only to be stopped by a jab from Atla, which left Malty's own arm numb at her side.

"Sorry Princess, but even if your claims were true, I don't carry around dead weight. After this night is over, I will just disappear again, into the shadows." Shirou said, walking away from the Princess, his companions at his heels.

"That was all a lie?" Fohl said, amazed. "The way she acted. It seemed so real."

"How could you be fooled. Don't you remember how she acted before?" Atla scolded her brother.

"Well, yeah but I… Ah…" Fohl tried to think of something to say in his own defense but couldn't think of anything.

"Don't be hard on him. If I didn't know better myself, I would have been fooled." Shirou admitted, his face hard. "That girl's acting skills are frightening. Naofumi and Motoyasu never stood a chance against something like that. Even after I warned them to be careful. I don't doubt that anyone would have believed her, if they didn't already know her real character."

The strange thing was, as Malty had been talking, Shirou had actually considered accepting it. Even knowing that she was lying, he had considered making a scene, outing Motoyasu as a rapist, the same way Naofumi had been set up. Giving the man a much-needed reality check.

Also, somewhere inside of him, he had actually believed her. As monumentally stupid as that was. He had talked with Motoyasu enough to know that for all his flaws, the man would have never forced himself on those girls. Besides, he didn't have the power to be an actual threat against an entire country. Not yet, anyways.

Shirou had to constantly remind himself what he was dealing with and why playing along was such a bad idea. He didn't want Motoyasu unlocking a cursed series as well. Two of those running around was bad enough. Shirou had the Sword of Sloth mostly under control and the curse of wrath hadn't started making Naofumi murder the innocent yet. But if Motoyasu gained a curse of lust, he might really become a rapist, and the curse of wrath on someone who doesn't have a defense oriented weapon was a recipe for disaster.

Besides, sooner or later, the Legendary Heroes would need to work together properly. That was going to be hard enough with Naofumi's bad blood, but at least the Shield Hero had proven to be mostly pragmatic and willing to do whatever it took to live. He didn't want to add more baggage to an already too complicated situation.

Still, he just basically backhanded the Princess. It was time to get out of there.

However, when he returned to the main to tell Firo and the others that their feast would have to continue elsewhere, he found that the hall was almost completely empty. Out of the people Shirou knew, only Firo and Azu remained, both still eating. "Where is everyone?" Shirou asked one of the servants, only to be told that everyone had left to the arena in order to watch the duel between the Shield and Spear Heroes.

…Shit.

* * *

 **For those who complained about Firo's fight with Fitoria not being different from canon (which I feel is justified since Shirou hadn't even started really training her yet), Naofumi and Motoyasu's fight is going to go down much different from in canon.**

 **Naofumi is level 41 and Motoyasu is level 53, but since Naofumi has mastered far more forms and Motoyasu has put a lot more into Status Enchantments, they aren't that unevenly matched.**

 **Also, the Twin Shields aren't the only commission that Naofumi has made of the Blacksmithing Oyaji.**

* * *

 **One possible path I had thought of was for Shirou to agree to frame Motoyasu, in order to act as a wake up call and show that Naofumi was innocent in the eyes of the other heroes, but for him to leave the Princess at home rather than traveling with her.**

 **I decided against it when I thought of a much more amusing plot line.**


	40. Chapter 39

Naofumi was annoyed as he stood in the prep area for the castle's arena. He was convinced that they put those swords there just to taunt him about how he couldn't use them. Not that he needed them. The fact that he still had to take a piss didn't help his mood. He had had way too much to drink during that party.

…Well, he might as well relieve himself here, while he was waiting for things to get started.

Untying his trousers, Naofumi stood in front of the row of swords by the wall and started to let the river flow. "Ah." He breathed a sigh of relief as he relieved himself on the swords. He smiled as he imagined that the swords belonged to those guards from before and that they would have to use them again later.

That would teach them to try to manhandle his slaves. Not that it had gone well for them anyways. Raphtalia had thrown them around like ragdolls when they had tried to gag her.

Motoyasu, being the idiot that he was, had taken offense to Naofumi using slaves, even though it was completely legal in this country. He had demanded a duel out of Naofumi for the freeing of Raphtalia and the others.

Naofumi had been dismissive of it, saying that they all willingly had their seals, which was true, for everyone but Keel. The gender confused demihuman hadn't ever been offered his/her freedom. She might have had it offered, if she hadn't bite Shirou. But when Motoyasu said that Naofumi was just using the Slave Seals to force them to say that, and to prove that they weren't being forced by releasing them all… Naofumi hesitated.

If Sadeena or Keel had decided to leave him, he could shrug that off. Easy come, easy go. Waste of good EXP during the Wave, but he could live with that. He knew that Raphtalia and Midori would stay by his side… right? They wouldn't abandon him, would they? Raphtalia had turned down freedom before, but…

Motoyasu had mocked him for his hesitation and said that no woman would willingly be around a rapist like him. That had been enough. Naofumi accepted the duel, on the condition that Motoyasu fork over his reward money for the Wave if he lost.

He didn't care anymore. He just wanted a chance to shield bash that bastard's face in.

"I thought you said you don't get drunk." Naofumi jumped and turned his head around to see Shirou standing in the corner, giving him a raised eyebrow. "Or do bathrooms not exist in the world you come from?"

"Hey, they didn't give me the chance to go to one! And I'm not drunk!" Naofumi objected as he quickly stuffed his cock away. "How did you even get in here? There guards on the door."

"Were there? I must not have noticed." Shirou said with a shrug. But then he turned serious. "Naofumi-san, you do realize how stupid you are being, don't you?"

Naofumi glared at the man before tightening his fist. "I don't care if he is stronger than I am. I am going to make him regret those things he said."

"…I guess you don't understand then." Shirou said with a sigh. "Motoyasu is level 53, while you are level 41. But you have more mastered and awakened weapon forms, so I would say the two of you are around even when it comes to stats. His only advantage comes from better prepared Status Enchantments. But he has a disadvantage, in that he can't use his more powerful Skills without having to worry about collateral damage. It's a pretty fair fight that will come down to whether or not you can block or deflect his [Lightning Spear] skill, as it has the ability to leave you paralyzed. If anything, you have the advantage. Which is why you should throw the fight, hard."

"What?" Naofumi said, his eyes widening. "Why should I let that bastard win?"

"Because Motoyasu isn't your enemy, the Church of the Three Heroes is. He's just a tool." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "Remember Naofumi, the only reason the Church allows you to live is because they believe they have crippled you. If you go out there and prove you can fight on even footing with one of their 'Heroes' what do you think they will do?"

"Like I care." Naofumi scoffed. "They are going to be trying to get me killed anyways."

"Naofumi-san, you are more pragmatic than this. Is your vengeance against Motoyasu really worth the safety of those who believe in you?" Shirou said, trying to reason with the Shield Hero.

Naofumi paused, but as he heard the crowd outside. Their laughter and jokes at his expense. Hate seeped into his soul. "I'm not just going to take it. I don't care what they think. I'm not their damn scapegoat! And if that bastard wants to pick a fight with me, I'm not going to roll over!" Naofumi shouted at Shirou. The gate started to open to let Naofumi into the arena. "The Spear Hero is going to get what is coming to him." He growled as he started to leave.

"Is that even you talking or is it the curse of wrath?" Shirou said, sounding disappointed.

"There isn't any difference. The old me is dead. The Bitch killed him."

* * *

"Dammit Naofumi." Shirou said with a sigh, returning to his Issei persona and leaving the area.

The guy was about to put himself and his entire group in danger for a grudge match. He didn't get that those Knights that attacked him were just a normal patrol, and weak as newborn babies, compared to the power that the Church could really bring down on their heads.

Shirou still remembered it. The catalyst that had been present during their summoning. The Legendary Weapon Replica. The vessel that contained a copy of all four Legendary Holy Weapons, fueled by thousands of years of prayer by the believers of the Church. Though only on the level of a B rank Noble Phantasm, it was still far beyond what they currently had available to them. And even if Naofumi could survive it. An attack made on them while they slept would destroy the entire inn and kill everyone he loved along with it.

That's if they even bothered to use it. In Shirou's own world, the Church had Chorus spells, magecraft performed by using the belief of thousands. Magecraft capable of erasing an entire castle from the map. To the best of Shirou's knowledge, something similar existed in this world as well.

Naofumi didn't get it. He was like a frog stuck in a well, completely obvious to just how may predators there are out there that could take him down in a single bite.

But what could he do?

Stop the match? Motoyasu and Naofumi wouldn't listen, not to Shirou or Issei.

Get the King involved? He wasn't exactly in the right position to be openly supporting the Shield Hero.

Regardless the truth, in the eyes of the Church, Naofumi was the worldly manifestation of All the World's Evils. No matter how unfair it was for him to have to carry such a burden.

…

Shirou had a plan, but he already knew that Rita wasn't going to like this.

* * *

Motoyasu smiled and waved as he entered the field of battle, though his heart wasn't really in it. He was just too damn pissed off.

Naofumi was a really bastard. He really was.

Not only did he rape a woman, but he also went and enslaved people, and then had the balls to be all nonchalant about it. It didn't matter if it was legal in this world or not, he was supposed to be a Hero, and Heroes set examples. He should know that slavery is just not okay. But he ignores all the morals that they should have taught him back in his own version of Japan.

Unless everyone in his Japan was as big of a bastard as he was.

It was like Naofumi was convinced that everyone around him was just NPCs in a video game. Like their lives and feelings didn't matter at all. Like nothing he did had consequences.

People like him, they should just lock them up and throw away the key. But no. Because of his status as the Shield Hero, he was let go without even a slap on the wrist. He raped an innocent woman, a princess even, and got to just walk away.

If Naofumi showed any remorse at all, Motoyasu might not have felt so much disgust for him. Story was that he was drunk off his ass when he did it. It didn't excuse the crime, but it was at least something. But rather than showing regret for what he had done to Myne, he instead went and enslaved two more beautiful women, an innocent child… and a trap. Motoyasu didn't even want to think about the things that Naofumi was ordering them to do at night. Forcing them to do against their will.

This wasn't even counting the stories of assault, blackmail and extortion that buzzed like flies around something rotten wherever his name came up.

How it was that a nice guy like Shirou could put up with someone like Naofumi, Motoyasu had no clue. Maybe he really was a Saint. Just looking at Naofumi as he walked out onto the field, with his downright evil expression and his cheesy bad guy armor, pissed Motoyasu off to no end.

Naofumi was no Hero. He wasn't even a man. He was a bastard.

"Now then, the duel between the Hero of the Spear and the Hero of the Shield will commence! The outcome will be decided when a finishing blow is about to be made or one side concedes." There was no talking between the two Heroes as the judge from the Church told them the rules of engagement. Motoyasu wasn't about to waste anymore words on that bastard.

"Ready?" The judge said. Motoyasu lowered himself and switched his Legendary Spear into a Halberd with a large, heavy head. Its slow look was meant to be deceptive, as it possessed a strong Status Enchantment towards speed.

Killing Naofumi wasn't his objective, so high damage was less important than a lot of small damages on his arms and legs. Something to get him on the ground so that Motoyasu could claim his victory.

Naofumi's Shield took on a relatively small form, silvery with a metallic shine to it. Motoyasu could gain nothing from its appearance, not a hint of Naofumi's intentions. Not that it should matter. The Shielder class had no attack power at all, and Motoyasu's defense was still among the highest. Naofumi shouldn't be able to even damage him.

"Fight!"

Motoyasu and Naofumi charged towards each other, quickly closing the distance between them. Motoyasu then used his superior reach and tried to do as much early damage to the limbs as possible. "[Chaos Thrust]!"

With his added speed over the last few days, the number of blows he could dish out increased from three to five. Each of them was aimed for a different limb, with the last one aimed for Naofumi's right shoulder.

As expected, Naofumi blocked the attacks aimed for the dominant arm, but less expected was the result of the other attacks.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

No damage at all. Sure, the individual strikes of the Chaos Thrust had less attack power than a normal attack, but Motoyasu had been expecting at least some damage. And as the Skill went on cooldown, Naofumi tried to close the distance, taking advantage of how awkward it was to use a pole weapon up close.

Motoyasu made to use his enhanced speed to jump back, but Naofumi predicted it. "[Air Strike Shield]!" A semitransparent shield appeared behind Motoyasu's back, preventing his retreat and letting Naofumi get in close.

If it had been just one week ago, this would have been a huge problem for Motoyasu, but Shirou had shown him how to use his Spear at close range. He had practiced the style for hours until it felt natural. Before Naofumi finished winding up his swing, Motoyasu had already changed his grip and was spinning his spear around.

"[Shield Bash]!" Naofumi shouted, using a second Skill. But the attack didn't connect. Motoyasu deflected the Shield with his Spear and then used the momentum from it, as well as Naofumi's forward center of gravity to easily sweep the man's legs out from under him.

The follow up attack came as an overhand strike, aimed of the left leg. A strike that would hobble the Shield Hero.

"[Second Shield]!" A second transparent shield appeared over the Shield Hero's body, guarding attacks Motoyasu's attack. He then used the cover of the barrier to roll away and quickly get back up into a crouching position.

Motoyasu stepped over the shield and pursued, but his thrust was dodged by Naofumi, who turned away from Motoyasu and straight ran in order to create distance.

Idiot. Didn't he know to never turn your back in a fight?

Motoyasu changed his weapon's form to the Jolt Lance, with its increase to Skill Damage. "[Air Strike Javelin]!"

He made an action like throwing his spear, and a spectral javelin flew out of it, heading straight for Naofumi's back.

"[Dual Wielder]!" A trio of Shield appeared on Naofumi's back, blocking the attack, before disappearing. Motoyasu was surprised, as the Shielder class wasn't supposed to get the [Dual Wielder] ability, but quickly recovered and moved to close the distance between them. Then, Naofumi planted his feet and spun around.

Motoyasu had to duck as a spiked ball came flying straight for him. It grazed his armor, doing so small of damage as to be ignored as it went by. But it was still damage. The first damage of the fight.

Naofumi grinned as Motoyasu stared at the thing. A spiked ball on the end of a long metal cable that was connected to Naofumi's shield. "How do you like the Flail Shield?" Naofumi asked as he worked to pull the ball back in. "You seem surprised, but it should be obvious. After all, there is no rule that says a shield can't be more than just a shield."

A hybrid class weapon? Was that even possible? This hadn't been in the game either.

"I guess you've been listening to Oyaji's philosophy lessons too." The Spear Hero could almost hear the mercenary rambling about objects being compositions of different forms. If you could dismantle objects to create different forms, why not put objects together to create something new?

Was his Halberd not really just a composition of different weapons; a spear and an axe.

But it shouldn't matter. Even with the spiked ball, Naofumi's attack was far too weak. Motoyasu rushed in again, this time being careful of the flail. Wasn't that hard. While it was a weapon, Naofumi didn't seem to have the same mastery of it as he had with his Shield. So while he could deflect and block Motoyasu's attacks, his wide swings with the ball on a cord were inaccurate and infrequent, as the momentum from the swung just carried the thing out of position.

Fitting for someone using an attack pattern they aren't suited for.

That said, the ball was hard to block or deflect, allowing Naofumi to get a few hits in, while Motoyasu got in a couple of his own. Scraps appeared on their armor along with small trickles of blood. Though even after minutes passed, neither had done any real damage.

But this was all set up. Motoyasu just had to figure out a way to get Naofumi still for long enough to get him with his [Lightning Spear]. The attack itself wouldn't do heavy damage, but it would shock Naofumi's system, giving him the paralyzed status effect and giving Motoyasu the chance to put a blade to his throat.

Problem was, the [Lightning Spear] was done from a specific stance and had a long cooldown. If he missed, it would be a while before he could try again, and Shirou had shown him how easy it was to dodge.

Wasn't like he had many other options. His other skills were either too weak to get through Naofumi's stupid defenses, or too large and would cause damage to the surroundings.

Motoyasu pulled back as Naofumi swung his ball around once again before deciding to take the chance and push for a resolution. He tossed his spear up into the air, casting one of his Skills as he did so. "[Shooting Star Spears]!" The weapon glowed before splitting into a hundred bolts of light that launched themselves at Naofumi, who plated his feet and lifted up his Shield to guard.

"[Meteor Shield]!" The bubble appeared around him, protecting him from all sides and the energy bolt spears exploded on contact with the ground all around him, throwing up dust.

As the Legendary Spear returned to him, Motoyasu took up his stance and began to count down. 5… 4… 3… 2…

As the dust cleared, he aimed for the center point of Naofumi's bubble. "[Lightning Spear]!"

Just as he launched his attack, the [Meteor Shield] expired, leaving the blast of electric energy to go hurtling towards Naofumi.

Naofumi tried to block it, but the electricity passed around his Shield and struck his left arm. The man gave a gasp of surprise as he fell down to the ground. It was a good hit.

Motoyasu grinned, now he just had to put his blade to Naofumi and be declared the victor. But the grin stopped when he saw Naofumi struggling with a potion in his hand.

A cure for the paralysis?

"I won't let you!" Motoyasu shouted, rushing forward as Naofumi started to bring the vial to his lips. However, as the Spear Hero got close, Naofumi turned around with a huge grin of his own, and swung the vial's contains out towards Motoyasu's face.

The Spear Hero didn't even have time to react as the cloud of fine powder entered his lungs and a sudden sharp pain overtook him.

Poison.

* * *

"[Shield Bash]!" Naofumi shouted, slamming his Shield into the Motoyasu's stupid head.

The man went down like a sake as the Skill's stunning effect got the best of him. He was already gasping from Midori's special powder, which had invaded his lungs.

Naofumi had known that the moment Motoyasu used his paralyzing attack he would try to finish the job. That was why he had purposely taken the attack, taking the attack on his left arm, which was covered by the Holy Shroud. The attack had barely even tickled though the Shroud's warding and his own natural defenses. Whatever effect managed to make it through was quickly cleaned up by Naofumi's paralyze resistance and the flow of his Od.

He had then baited the Spear Hero in with a 'potion' and struck his blow. Now it was all over.

"You bastard. What kind… of Hero uses… poison." Motoyasu said, as he continued to try to stand up though the poison as the stun effect wore off.

"Shut up. [Shield Bash]!" Naofumi clubbed him across the face again, bringing him down to the ground. "I'm the 'weakest', remember. It's only natural I do whatever it takes. Besides, unlike you, I've never claimed to be a Hero."

[Speed Debuff – Negated]

[Attack Debuff – Negated]

[Wind Spell – Negated]

The messages had been coming in for a while, but now they were faster than ever before. Whatever outsiders were trying to help the Idiot of the Spear, they couldn't get though the Holy Shroud and Naofumi's magic resistances. He'd have to remember to thank Shirou, after the mercenary was done being all anal about the duel.

"You… Bastard!?" Motoyasu growled.

He resisted the stun? Hard to believe he could pass any constitution checks was poisoned. He was a stubborn idiot.

Not that it matter, the potion was already in his system. His earlier speed and strength were all but gone. Naofumi just side stepped Motoyasu's attempt at stabbing him.

As Motoyasu stumbled, Naofumi brought out his Steel Blade Shield, fully upgraded, and used it to stab Motoyasu in his side, drawing a surprised gasp from the man as the blade passed through a gap in his armor.

With Motoyasu on the ground, Naofumi placed the edge of his blade next to Motoyasu's neck. "Looks like the Strongest Shield wins against the Strongest Spear."

"That is enough! The fight is over! You win!" The Judge shouted, not wanting Naofumi to hurt their 'precious' Spear Hero any more than he already had. There was already calls being made for healers. Naofumi wondered if any of those healers would be called for him if he had lost.

Probably not.

Naofumi was smiling all the same, breathing it all in as everyone gave their gasps of horror. He knew deep down that he shouldn't have done it.

But DAMN it had felt good.

As he turned and walked away though, Motoyasu called out to him. "Wait! No! This isn't *cough* over!" Motoyasu said, he was struggling to get to his feet, even with the small wound in his side. "I won't let you. I won't let you take advantage of those people!"

Stubborn bastard. He'd already lost. Why couldn't he just stay down.

…It would be fun to put him down again.

"Naofumi-sama isn't taking advantage of us!" Raphtalia shouted as she entered the field with the others. "If you even bothered to listen to a word I said, you would know that we were already offered our freedom! We just chose to stay with Naofumi-sama instead!" She said, holding her hand to her slave crest. "You wouldn't understand. After all the betrayal Naofumi-sama went though, he can trust anyone. That is why I wear this crest, to show him that I trust him and that he can trust me."

"That… That doesn't make sense!" Motoyasu shouted, shaking his head. "You shouldn't have to! You shouldn't have to be his slaves! Can you see that he is just using you!?"

"Using me... Tell me, would you offer your hand to a dirty slave wrecked with illness?" Raphtalia said. As she talked, gilt and gratitude moved in, pushing aside the rage that Naofumi had been allowing himself to wallow in.

"Eh?" Motoyasu didn't know what to say.

"Naofumi-sama has done so much for me. He had next to nothing, but what he had to give he gave to me. He allowed me eat whatever I wanted. He gave me precious medicine when I was sick. Tell me, would you do the same?"

"I… I would!" Motoyasu insisted.

"Then where are your slaves?" Raphtalia asked the man, who just stood there, unable to say anything in reply. Raphtalia walked up to Naofumi and grabbed his arm. "Come on Naofumi-sama, let's go."

"…Yeah." Naofumi agreed. He had done enough for now.

"I'm… I'm not wrong. I'm not wro…! *gasp*!" Motoyasu started to shout something, but his shout turned to a gasp. Then the entire audience screamed in horror. Naofumi turned around and had to admit that his own jaw dropped.

"Quit your barking, you worthless mongrel." Issei said as he drew his blade out from within Motoyasu's back, letting the man collapse to the ground. "This is why I can't stand Heroes. They are so damn self-righteous. Every time they open their mouths, I just want to slit their throats."

"Wh…what the hell?" Naofumi said.

"*sigh* And he I was planning on letting you all live long enough to provide me with some actual entertainment. But I guess I'll just kill you all now." Issei then turned to face Naofumi and the Shield Hero barely had enough time to push Raphtalia out of the way and raise his shield before the blow landed. He was knocked clean off his feet and sent flying by a blow with more than twice the force as any of Motoyasu's attacks.

"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia shouted, before having to block against an attack herself and being sent flying away as well. Naofumi's eyes widened at the sight, but she was caught by Midori before she could hit a wall.

"Issei, what the hell do you think you are doing!" Naofumi growled as he struggled to his feet.

"Issei? Oh right, that name I gave. You didn't honestly think that was my real name, did you?" Issei(?) said with an evil chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" Naofumi said, trying to keep the guy talking and buy himself some time. He had no idea what the fuck was going on, but he knew he couldn't fight the Sword Hero on even footing.

"Really, you still don't get it? You're pretty bad at context clues, aren't you." The man said with a shake of the head. "I already told you. Of the four Heroes that are summoned, one of them… is a Demon."

As he talked, a dark presence swept over the area and black lines started to appear on his skin, forming into a weird, evil tattoo. His armor, which had been bronze and gold darkened into a heavy black as his hair became more ridged. He pushed the stiff locks back with his free hand, so that it stuck up in a sort of gelled back style. Finally, two things started to grow out through the skin on his forehead; a pair of metallic black horns that looked as sharp as blades. Small lines of blood dripped from were the horns pushed out of his head, rolling down his face and making him look completely insane.

"…Oh fuck me." Naofumi said slowly as the entire arena exploded in noise.

"If you would like a proper name for me, you can call me Angra Mainyu, the God of Darkness and Slayer of Heroes." He said with an insane grin. "Or if that is too complicated for you, you can think of me as the Demon of the Sword… or better yet, Avenger."

* * *

 **So, how many people who I didn't already spoil this for could honestly say they saw that coming? Show of hands?**

* * *

 **So I have another two day's drive ahead of me, and then college classes are starting back up on Monday and I have two really bitch courses that are legendary time sinks at my university. So sorry if I suddenly fall off the radar again. Hopefully I leave you with this cliff hanger ending for long enough that all of you learn to just hate me and go away.**

* * *

 **Reinforcement can increase an object's ability to absorb light, darkening it. This can be done with clothes, hair and skin.**

 **As for the horns, he grew blades out through his skull.**


	41. Mini Chapter Degojaru

Degojaru

I am a Shadow of the Queen of Melromarc. I have been my entire life. How long is that? Well, that is a secret. Let's just say it had been a while, and in that time I have devoted myself to her entirely, pushing myself to my limit every day in order to prove myself worthy of her. I have sharpened my skills until I was the very best, and I was recognized for my efforts, not only being given the most important of missions, but also being made the personal bodyguard of Princess Melty during my off time.

A duty I attended to with great gusto. Perhaps a little too much gusto, as even after ten years, I find myself unable to stop saying degojaru, the little nonsense word that always made her laugh as a baby. It still gets giggles out of her, on occasion.

I was the top Shadow of Melromarc. No matter the mission, I would succeed without fail… until he showed up.

It had been a tough mission, keeping the Shield Hero out of harms way. More than once he nearly blundered straight into a dark alley and I had to dispatch the cultists before he could see them. He also left a trail of complaints and angry people wherever he went, not seeming to care how many enemies he made, or whether news of his activities reached the castle.

It had been the most painful mission of my life, not just because of the amount of effort or because it was a 24/7 job, but because the Shield Hero was so damn angsty. At times, I wanted to slit his throat myself. But I still did my best to see the mission through. I protected the Hero from the shadows, and even helped him purchase a slave, without the Shield Heroes knowledge. Everything was going slow, but it was slowly coming together.

That is, until a giant talking bird came stampeding over the hill and the man in the carriage decided to stop and offer the Shield Hero a bite to eat.

The were suspicious, this mercenary group that came out of no where and decided to assist the Shield Hero, ignoring his bad attitude and going so far as the threaten him into accepting. I thought for sure it had to be a trap… I just couldn't figure out how. They had made it clear enough that they had the power needed to bring the Shield Hero down right then and there.

I decided to capture the leader and interrogate him while the others were out of the way.

…Only it didn't work out that way.

"Looks like it's just you and me now!"

I was beaten. A no name mercenary beat me, Melromarc's top Shadow. I didn't even have a chance to properly fight back. He didn't even need to injure me, he merely restrained me, using magic I had never even heard of before.

Then came the interrogation.

I had never felt so violated in my entire life. He stripped me of everything I had, leaving my secrets bare. Not only could he force me to respond and respond in full, he completely negated the seal that would prevent me for being forced to speak. I couldn't help but to cry as I was made to expose my Queen's secret, everything that she had trusted me with. I was a failure as a Shadow.

Her Majesty didn't mind, seeming more curious about the oddly informed mercenary group that helped rapidly further the Shield Hero's progress than she was about concerned about the information leak. She didn't even with to punish me at all. She just wanted me to continue to watch after the Shield Hero until he finally left the castle town for good.

Still, I would never forgive that… That brute. I would pay back that no name mercenary, someday and somehow.

* * *

I couldn't believe it. That no name mercenary was the Hero of the Sword. Her Majesty, being as intelligent as she was, had quickly pieced things together from the reports they had out of Siltvelt on the mercenary, the Sword Hero's 'fight' with the Church's Shadows, and the reports from the Church of the Four Saint Faith.

I could hardly believe it.

The Queen asked me to find him and request his assistance in the international negotiations.

Bringing such an unknown element into the political ring. It was proof of just how bad the international situation was.

The Sword Hero, Shirou, spotted me the moment I approached him, even though I was disguised, though he refused to tell me how he did it, and only smiled in his smug way. His teasing was so infuriating. When I accused him of being the Sword Hero, he put up a token effort of denying who he was. Though when he understood the situation, he agreed to come along. Though he also kept talking nonsense about how he wasn't the Sword Hero, save for when he needed to be.

He often talked nonsense. Such as when he insisted that having the title of a Hero was a burden. Or when he told the Queen that he only agreed to trust her Majesty because he trusted that I trusted the Queen… so embarrassing. He even gave me an individual name, even though Shadows weren't supposed to be individuals.

Really, he such an idiot.

Well, at least he is an idiot who knows how to deal with politics.

* * *

Did I ever mention that Shirou was an idiot? If so, it should be emended to him being a very unpredictable idiot.

I didn't even let him out of my sight. He just vanished into thin air and went parading around Zeltbull under disguise, seeming not to care what an uneasy position that put the Queen in. I did my absolute best to track him down.

That was when I found him in the Colosseum, fighting a pair of extremely high-level griffins with nothing but his bare hands… and without a shirt on. I hardly even recognized him, the disguise wasn't on the level of a Shadow, but it would have tricked anyone who didn't look closely. I nearly doubted my own eyes, but there was no one else that it could have been but him.

It was just like in the Legends. He wasn't just strong, he was unreally strong. He killed those griffins, as if he was the one thirty levels above them, instead of the other way around.

He had bet a large amount of money on the outcome of the fight and made enough money to buy his own private army, and still have money left over. Which he then did. Or, I thought he was. Only he released the slaves after buying them, he didn't care whether they were debtors, kidnap victims or criminals, he released them all, saying that no one deserved to have their life taken away from them.

It was the kind of thing a naïve idealist might do. Which was what I then pegged the Hero as being. Until later that night, when he once against showed off his strength and skill by returning to the Colosseum, knocking out all the guards, stealing everything they owned, and burning the building to the ground. Then he set up another of the Colosseums to take the blame and started a gang war.

It was shocking. In a single night he had created chaos at a level that would quickly bring Zeltbull to its knees, effectively crippling both the country and the global black-market.

While the Shield Hero failed to impress while I had been watching him, I figured that this must be the true power of the Legendary Heroes. I thought that up until Shirou came in contact with the Spear and Bow Heroes. That was when he showed the massive gap that existed between him and them.

He didn't just beat them, he handled them as if they were children. The gap between them went beyond mere levels. He hardly even use the power of his Legendary Weapon, and was even holding back his strength. He beat them with pure skill.

As to my Queen's instructions, I recorded everything that Shirou and his party got involved in, as the sight of their training sections were a good reminder for the other countries of just what it was they had bought with their peace agreement. Naturally, this included his interactions with the other Heroes. It was the Queen's plan to copy the recordings of his interactions with the Spear and Bow and release them to the public. Something to draw power away from the Church as the people would begin to question the Heroes' divineness.

Also, because Her Majesty was a bit of a Sadist.

It did carry the risk of having them being declared false Heroes, but so long as a single Hero lived, no new Heroes could be summoned. So, as long as the Sword Hero lived, the Church couldn't try to summon new Spear and Bow Heroes and pretend like the others never happened. And since he was the most difficult to track down, he would naturally have to go first.

Fat chance they would ever be able to kill Shirou. I was starting to wonder if any force in the world could kill that man. His sparing matches with his other party members were downright terrifying to witness. Rita and Firo were stronger than even a level hundred fighter, yet he didn't struggle while fighting both of them at once. And he was still not using his Legendary Sword.

When he did use the Sword's power, entire armies' worth of monsters were wiped out in an instant. The rain of swords he brought about during the Wave showed that much.

He was a monster. A God of War. He just couldn't be stopped. Not through straight combat, or through assassination. To even think of making an enemy of him was the height of foolishness.

"Your Majesty, I hope we aren't getting in over our heads, degojaru."

* * *

"You are going to what?"

The King echoed my own thoughts when Shirou explained his 'plan' on how to deal with the Shield Hero's stubborn insistence of stirring the beehive. His solution was ludicrous.

The Queen loved it.

Her Majesty even ordered her husband and me to help. It seems that it just provided too many solutions to her problems for her to pass up.

With an appropriate figure that wars against the Church, they would be able to assassinate as many of the Church's inner circle as they wished, without tipping them off about the Queen's action. This turned the overwhelming prospect of preforming an attack on every single key figure at once, into an almost trivial matter of making sure you aren't caught in the act.

It would also give the King the opportunity to reveal the Shield Hero's innocence and start to mend the gap between him and the Spear Hero.

It was the oldest political trick. When you have a problem you can't solve immediately, whether it be starvation, a resection, or in this case racism and corruption, you simply distract the people with something they perceive as a threat to their way of life. They become too concerned about the new problem and forget about the old.

'Issei' was a disposable identity, as far as Shirou cared. Worst comes to worst; they could even declare him dead without losing anything. He had allies, but none with faces seen by more than twenty people, and that was under magic used to change their appearance. And as Demihumans undergoing rapid leveling, the two would likely look completely different in just a week.

On the international scene, no one would really care. The politicians already wanted Shirou to keep his identity a secret as he worked, so their names weren't connected to the Sword Hero. They already accepted that the Sword Hero was working as an agent of the Queen to protect the Shield Hero and undermine the Cult of the Three Heroes. No matter what he did, so long as they could reach the leaders before the normal news reached them, no one would mistake it for real.

It wasn't like anyone trusted the news that came out of Melromarc anyways. Not since they claimed that the Shield was a rapist. Even recordings wouldn't be trusted.

The Queen even came up with the perfect story for the populous once the Church was dealt with. The only condition that the Queen placed was that Shirou would assist in the… interrogation of some of the Church's VIPs and Shadows.

I couldn't help but to shudder at the thought. I almost petty those traitorous bastards.

"Yami, I also need you to play a part in this." Shirou said as he lifted his arm, creating a weapon out of thin air, in that way he sometimes did. "You are going to need this."

I took the weapon and something appeared in my Status Menu. I couldn't stop my eyes from widening.

"Where did you get this, degojaru!"

* * *

 **Don't have time for a full chapter, but thought I should argue some of the more common points brought up against me. So I wrote this while sitting in the back of my parent's van on the drive home.**

 **It seems that around 70% of people seem to think that the last chapter was amazing, while the other 30% seem to think that I killed their puppy. (I hope all of you who swore that you would stop reading actually stop reading.)**

 **Naofumi in canon admits that the only reason the church hadn't killed him was because they knew that they could kill him at any time they wanted. In the spinoff, he is assassinated immediately whenever they realize that he hasn't been crippled by there plans.**

 **Yes the Queen would be okay with all this. In the WN, she was the one who arranged for Naofumi to be set up for the 'murder'** **of her daughter, in order to lure the Church's army out into the open. Shirou's playing Demon wouldn't bother her one bit.**

 **Motoyasu isn't dead. He isn't even that injured. Shirou used a paralyzing stab. It isn't even going to last long enough for Shirou to get away. (A miscalculation on Shirou's part)**

 **Itsuki is there and will get involved.**

 **Shirou doesn't really care if no civilian trusts the Sword Hero or not. Naofumi and Motoyasu would understand later that he did it for good reasons. Shirou isn't throwing himself under the bus because he is not losing anything but the Issei identity, which he doesn't really need anyways.  
**

* * *

 **I'm apparently getting Fanart made of some stuff here, people making TV Trope pages, someone translating it into Russian and people asking for forms to be set up to organize o-makes on... yet I still can't get a Beta.**

 **Weird.**

 **The only person who offered misspelled two words in their message, admitted to not having a computer and doing things on their phone, and that they weren't a native English speaker. (I politely declined the offer.)**

 **For anyone interested in the Fanart, here "deviantart alex-kellar / art / Educating-a-hero- 810743739"**

 **...Interesting.**


	42. Chapter 40

Naofumi used [Dual Wielder+] to manifest four copies of the Steel Blade Shield, and then used the unique ability of the Legendary Shield to change their size so that two could be worn as shoulder pauldrons while the other two were on either arm in a form that wouldn't be too overbearing. Though they defensive values didn't stack, the percent damage resistance did.

At level 10 enhancement, the damage reduction from humanlike enemies was 20% for each shield. The multiplicative stacking resulted in a decrease of the total damage by almost 60%.

Even so, Avenger's attacks knocked Naofumi around like a ragdoll and small scratches started to appear in his Barbarian Armor. In an act of desperation, Naofumi sank more lifeforce shards into boosting the Enhancement level to 11, but Avenger just increased his own attacks to match the new boost in defense.

The mad look on his face said everything, he was toying with the Shield Hero.

Well, that was okay. The entire point of the Shield Hero was to draw attention.

Raphtalia and Midori rushed Avenger from behind attempting to cut him down with sword and axe. But the sneak attack failed. Avenger spun around, slashing into Midori's axe so hard that the boygirl was knocked out of the way, while he grabbed onto Raphtalia's arm, stopping her slash and looking over the girl's blade.

"That's a nice sword. A masterwork weapon. The near the peak of what can be accomplished with mortal hands." He said, with a sly smile. "But…" He pushed the girl away, and swung his blade, causing Raphtalia to raise her own to block. Naofumi's heart sank as Raphtalia's sword shattered into pieces. "A masterwork is nothing before the divine."

Raphtalia stumbled back, looking at her broken sword. The fragments wavered and started to dissolve into blue light.

"You!" Rita shouted as she rushed in at high speed, clashing with Avenger and pushing him back. Her eyebrow twitched with the strain as she protected Raphtalia. "There better be a good explanation for this." She growled.

"The explanation is simple. The world needs a reason for evil." Avenger's reply was puzzling, as he then parried her blow, before grabbing her and throwing her away.

"Rita-nee, are you alright?" Raphtalia asked as she helped the women to her feet.

"I'm fine." She said before taking a weapon from her side and handing it to Raphtalia. "Here, use this."

"Right." Raphtalia said, taking the weapon. It was a beautiful double-edged short sword, shaped in the same manner as a spear head. It was polished to a silver and golden shine.

Everyone was shocked when the weapon began to glow and grow in Raphtalia's hands, giving off what could only be described as a divine aura.

"That sword. It's Ascalon, the Blessed Sword by which Force is Slain." Avenger said, his insane look being replaced by genuine surprise.

"[Falcon Shot]!" Avenger casually twisted his body, letting Itsuki's arrow fly by, not looking away from Raphtalia. The arrow struck the far wall of the arena and blew it to bits and sending up dust, though the Sword Demon didn't seem to care. Itsuki had taken the field with his party and several of the castle mages.

After the failed shot, the mages began to fire in earnest, though the fireballs fizzled out as they reached Avenger's armor. High magic resist? Can he resist debuffs too?

"It should not let any wield its true power, save for the Saint. So how is it that a girl like you can awaken it?" Avenger asked, his curiosity making him ignore everything around him.

Raphtalia didn't seem to understand, but she tightened her grip on the sword and rushed towards the Demon. "Have a closer look!" She swung the sword with all her strength, creating an impressive wind while doing so, but to everyone's surprise, the man didn't move an inch.

*Clang*

The sword hit the man directly in the shoulder, but rather than damaging him, it gave off the sound that was all too familiar to Naofumi. No damage.

Avenger smiled straight into Raphtalia's face. "Nice try, but divine as this blade may be, its own nature will not allow it to cut me. Its power is very different."

"Raphtalia!" Naofumi shouted as the man swung his sword, delivering a powerful blow to the girl's stomach.

*Clang*

No damage? Naofumi was shocked and his eyes went to the Status Menu, checking on Raphtalia and her equipment.

[Ascalon – Quality: Heavenly - Legendary (Underqualified Wielder) – Base Attack: 48 – Base Defense: 229 – Effects: Indestructible, Aura of Protection, -100% damage-to-humanlike, +100% damage-to-unholy, +600% damage-to-dragons, ******** **** *********(Sealed), Charisma Up (Medium)]

[Aura of Protection]

[Weapon's defenses are applied to the entire body, not just to blocked attacks.]

Holy hell! What was with those stats!? That defense was more than 3 times Naofumi's best shield!

But it looks like its offense was useless. At least in this situation. Stupid multiplicative stacking. Didn't matter how much the bonus to unholy was, all damage to humanlike enemies would always be zero. If only he was dragon shaped instead of human.

"[Hate Reaction]." Naofumi mumbled, as he rushed back into the fray, trying to draw attention away from the others, so that they might be able to catch the man off guard. "Try to find a second weapon."

"Right." Raphtalia nodded and started off.

Naofumi swung his blade shields in what was a threatening manner, though Avenger just deflected them before slashing at the Shield Hero.

Naofumi hissed as the Legendary Sword bit into him, though the wound was still small. So he reached up, attempting to grab onto the blade and hold it still. Grappling enemies while his higher DPS teammates dealt with them was a tried and tested method for him.

Too bad it didn't look like Avenger would fall for it, as he moved his arm quickly out of the way, used a Dual Wielder skill to manifest a blade in his free hand and strike Naofumi in the head with the pummel.

*Clang*

No damage. It felt more like an aggressive shove than a heavy strike, but he was made to stumble all the same. The Sword moved out of the area and the balls of toxic spit splattered across the ground in front of Naofumi, smoking slightly.

*Clang*

…He also was hit by an arrow. Itsuki kept on shooting them, but none of them were hitting. Each shot was either dodged or deflected.

Naofumi started to pick himself up from the ground to see Midori being lifted off the ground by his long-braided hair before being tossed through the air, tears coming from his eyes. Rita and Raphtalia were attempting to double team the man, with Raphtalia holding a sword she got from a guard on her right hand and the legendary weapon in her left.

Avenger didn't have trouble with either of them.

"[Splitter Shot]!" Itsuki's next shot split into hundreds of arrows and come rocketing towards Avenger.

Naofumi's eyes widened as he realized that Midori was picking himself off the ground, and that if the Sword Demon dodged the attack, like he had been, the boy would take the hit. "[Air Strik…" Naofumi prepared his defensive skill to protect the boy, but rather than dodging the incoming arrows, the Sword Demon summoned up three large slabs of metal in the shape of a sword, blocking the incoming fire, not just protecting him, but also Midori.

He then spun about, knocking back both Rita and Raphtalia. "Give me a second. I need to deal with an annoying bug." He said before starting to walk towards Itsuki. Raphtalia and Rita wanted to pursue, but the giant swords came to life by themselves and blocked the girls' path.

With each step the man took, his aura grew stronger and stronger, until Naofumi deeply wanted to look away, but found himself too scared too. The Bow Hero's allies, and maybe a few of the Spear Hero's, who had been simply standing on the sidelines watching up until this point, turned and ran. The frontline fighters were so desperate to get away, they even knocked their Hero to the ground as they went.

"Constantly shooting, again and again, even when it has no effect. You really are annoying." Avenger said as he drew closer to Itsuki, who had turned pale as a ghost in the presence of the man's anger. "The funny thing is, you are still only the third most despicable Hero of the Bow I've ever had the displeasure to deal with."

"St…Stay away from Itsuki-sama!" A child with a pair of green braids shouted, running out in front of the Demon, startling everyone as she stood there with shaking hands and a short sword.

…Was she serious? The girl looked like she was about to faint. All of the armored, well equipped, adult adventurers and guards had fled, but this little girl had stayed behind to try to stare down the monster.

Luckily, the Demon seemed just as shocked as the rest of them. Giving Naofumi enough time to drink his SP potions.

"[Air Strike Shield]! [Second Shield]! [Shield Prison]!" Naofumi shouted, sandwiching Avenger between two spectral shields before wrapping the others inside of a cage made of shields. "Wake up, stupid! Now isn't the time to be nodding off!"

"I…I…" Itsuki stammered before the girl grabbed onto his arm and started to pull at him.

"Itsuki-sama, please." She said. Then the Bow Hero shook himself and regained his footing and move back as the Shield Hero's group moved between them.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

The cage raddled, cracks appearing on its surface before the entire thing shattered and fell to piece. "So fragile. Is this really as strong as your defenses are?" Avenger said, shaking his head. The dagger in his hand, a golden thing half shrouded in shadows, transformed into a shape resembling a katana. "I disappointed. The Heroes of old were a lot stronger than you three."

"[Air Strike Lance]!" A bolt of energy in the shape of a spear came flying towards Avenger, who blocked the attack, only barely staggering back from its weight. Naofumi turned his head to see Motoyasu standing back up, four empty potion bottles around his feet. "Don't go underestimating us."

"Huh. I thought I killed you." Avenger said, not sounding at all concerned.

"You kidding me? That love tap you gave me didn't do nearly as much damage as Naofumi's poison." Motoyasu said with a cocky smile, as if he was an anime hero, there to suddenly save the day. "Once I got ride of the paralyzation effect, I was fine."

Paralyze? Why would he be…?

Avenger laughed. "I forgot about how you Spear Heroes have a tendency to get back up after heavy wounds. I should have cut off a few limbs."

There he went again, comparing them to the old Heroes, as if he had seen it personally.

"Why do you keep talking like you've known other Heroes?" Motoyasu asked, his grin turning to a scowl.

"That's because this isn't the first time my soul has been summoned back." Avenger said with a casual shrug. "It's been a few hundred years since my last time in this world, but the world hasn't really changed much. It is still disgusting. The same world that betrayed me so long ago. I hate it so much."

The word struck Naofumi, who momentarily paused.

"[Air Strike Sword]!" Avenger shouted, causing a large blade to appear and fly straight towards Motoyasu.

Without even thinking, Naofumi reacted. "[Air Strike Shield]!"

The Shield appeared in front of Motoyasu, blocking the incoming attack before it could hit.

Motoyasu jumped backwards, out of the cloud of smoke and looked to Naofumi. "Thanks!"

Naofumi just scoffed in response. "Don't misunderstand. I need you if I am going to get out of this alive."

"Geez, don't go all Tsundere on me." Motoyasu grumbled in response.

"You're the one that tried to flirt with Midori!" Naofumi snapped back.

"You're the evil bastard who put him in a dress!" Motoyasu shouted.

"This really isn't the time!" Raphtalia shouted at the both of them.

Though Avenger wasn't attacking. He was just laughing. "Motoyasu, you in particular remind me of the First Spear Hero I fought. He was also a battlemaniac who didn't know when to stay down." He then laughed again, louder this time. "Do you want to know something funny? He was also summoned after his death. Murdered by a jealous Yande… Gah!" The Demon's words were cut short when the Legendary Sword began to give off large electrical sparks. "No, not yet. I haven't finished my fun yet."

The Legendary Sword was punishing him?

Then, talking was over, and Avenger attacked again.

As the civilians and most of the soldiers had all been evacuated from the area, the fight was starting to escalate with Motoyasu and Itsuki using more and more powerful and harder to dodge Skills, while Naofumi and his group covered them from retaliations after the inevitable deflection of their super moves at the hands of one of Avenger's own Skills.

There were more than a few close calls, and soon, everyone's armor was full of cuts and the three heroes were all bleeding. The only one untouched was Raphtalia, protected by that Super Sword's defenses. Her and the girl with the Bow Hero, who the Demon pointedly ignore. Though Rita and Midori didn't have any wounds, just messed up clothes.

It was strange though. Raphtalia's new defenses were high, but still not as high as Naofumi's accumulated defenses. Why wasn't she taking any damage? Rita and Midori would probably had been cut hard.

…Was he taking it easy on the companions. Or did he have a power that caused him to do more damage when facing other Heroes? Or did the Legendary Weapon stop him? Naofumi didn't know, but he knew that something wasn't adding up.

"This isn't working." Itsuki said, his body shaking. It was a wonder his arrow could fly straight in the state he was in. He wasn't even using Skills anymore. "I'm out of SP and potions."

"Yeah, same here." Motoyasu admitted as well. The two of them had probably used them all up in the Wave and didn't have time to restock.

Naofumi still had a lot of potions left, since he used more low SP cost skills, rather than the seeming high cost attacks that the other two had, which drained their entire reserves after just two uses. The only real drain Naofumi had was the need to keep up his Dual Wielder Skill in order to survive Avenger's attacks. Otherwise, his natural recovery rate would pay for his other skills.

Avenger didn't seem to be having any trouble with his own SP management. He hadn't even needed to break out a potion. He was using lower grade Skills to deflect higher grade ones. When he wasn't just dodging.

…Naofumi could share his own supply. Those bastards definitely wouldn't have ever done the same for him but… Damn it all. "You two owe me for this." Naofumi said, pulling out a pair of potions and tossing them to the two.

"Huh? Only normal quality? Better than nothing I guess." Motoyasu said as he pulled the cork off.

"Fuck you!"

"[Meteor Shot]!" Itsuki shouted as he fired off his strongest attack.

"[Azure Stream]." Avenger's wide slash created a slow-moving blue wave of energy that rippled slightly as it progressed. When the two attacks met, the blue wave slowed Itsuki's shot and sent it off course, causing it to miss entirely and destroy part of the stands. Itsuki fell to one knee. Out of SP again. Though Avenger's attack was still moving towards him.

"[Air Strike Shield]!" Naofumi called up a shield to block the attack. "Goddammit, it's called pacing yourself! You ever heard of it!" Naofumi shouted angrily at the moron.

"If we don't use our strongest Skills, we aren't going to do…" Itsuki started but was cut off.

"No. I don't think he has super high defense. We just need to get some damage on him to slow him down." Motoyasu said, shooting off a [Shooting Star Spears], which was blocked and avoided. "I just don't know how. This guy is too slippery. All we're doing is keeping the pressure on him so that he doesn't kill us."

Naofumi bit his lip. He hated to admit it, but Motoyasu was right. They couldn't get a solid hit on. Even if Naofumi used all his skills at once, it didn't hold the man for more than a second. Not enough time for the two assholes to line up a good shot.

There was only one choice.

Naofumi pulled out another pair of potions and drank them down, topping off his own SP pool, then he grasped his left arm, and removed the Holy Shroud. "Everyone get back!" He said, causing the girls and Midori to retreat without question. "Motoyasu… keep Raphtalia and Midori safe."

"Huh?" The Spear Hero said, not understanding as Naofumi broke into a run, charging at Avenger.

The Demon turned to face him, swinging out his sword in order to bash Naofumi away. Though the man's eyes widened as he saw Naofumi's shield… or shields.

 **[Curse Series]**

[A weapon that grants power and consumes the user. Hero! Do not use it.]

Four of the pitch-black shields, shaped like flames with bloody red marks covering them. The green crystal of the shield changed to a horrible a red and black light as an undeniably evil presence pushed out of the shields. Naofumi felt it. All of the HATE he had been holding onto in his heart. Enough HATE to destroy the world.

HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE!

Then, Avenger's blade touched the shields, and all of the HATE was unleashed.

"[SELF-BURNING CURSE]x4!"

* * *

Motoyasu was as surprised as everyone else when the area around Naofumi exploded into flames. The heat of the flames was so intense that it caused the stones to wither away and crumble into dust.

But even more than the fire, was Naofumi's face. Barely visible through the flames, it was twisted into an insane grin, large red vein-like marks pushing out from the edges of his face as his eyes glowed a bright red. "Die." He said, his voice hateful and cruel. "Die. Die! DIE! BURN!"

"Is… Is that really Naofumi?" Motoyasu said in shock. He looked just as much a demon as Avenger himself.

"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia and Midori shouted and the two of them started to run forward towards the flames.

"Don't!" Motoyasu shouted at them, running forward to stop them as the flames pushed outwards yet again. The Spear Hero stood before the two, using his own body as a shield as the flames licked at his back.

An indescribable pain echoed through his body as he was burned for taking the brunt of the damage. Raphtalia and Midori's hands were also burned, though Motoyasu had shielded the two of them from the worst of it and struggled to push them back. He could see the blackened burns on the girl's fingers and just imagined what his own back must look like.

The two weren't making it easy on him. They were stronger than they looked and they might have overwhelmed him and gone rushing right into the flames, if Rita hadn't stepped in to help pull them back.

"Let me go! I have to go to him!" "Naofumi-sama! Daddy!" Raphtalia and Midori.

"You can't. You'll just be killed." Motoyasu said with a small hiss.

[Cursed]

Motoyasu's Max HP was going down, and so were his other stats. This was dangerous.

"The waters are dark. Tainted with the evils of a world soaked in blood." Motoyasu turned his head around and his jaw dropped. Avenger was standing in the flames, as if they didn't bother him at all. His face had lost its mad look and he seemed serious. He lifted up a hand containing a knife, a rather long and slender knife that radiated an unbelievable amount of darkness. So dark that everything around it seemed to disappear into a sort of glistening black haze. Electrical sparks jumped around the blade's hilt as he spoke in a soft but commanding voice. "Drink my child. Drink until the stream is dry. Drink until the sky has no clouds. Drink until the land is no longer stained with blood. Drink all of the evil."

"Hanba."

Raphtalia and Midori screamed as Avenger drove the blade into Naofumi's side, aiming for an already open wound.

The Shield Hero gasped, and his body seemed to buckle. The flames receded, seeming to be sucked straight back and into the knife. The red disappeared from his eyes, his four evil looking shields returned to being just one normal one. Then, he collapsed to the ground.

"Naofumi!" Motoyasu shouted, rushing forward with his [Stream Thrust] Skill to quickly close the distance and drive away the Demon. Raphtalia and Midori were shortly behind him and quickly pilled onto Naofumi's dead body.

…No, wait, he was still breathing. "Naofumi-sama." Raphtalia said with relief as she saw his chest more up and down.

"I don't know whether to call what he just did stupidly noble or nobly stupid." Avenger said with a shake of the head. Motoyasu noticed that the gantlet on his left hand had been completely destroyed and that his hand was burned raw. "His hate was a little more intense than I thought it would be. Capable of burning even a Demon. But now I've got what I came here for. It's time to finish this."

Black wings sprouted out from his armor and Avenger took to the sky.

The top-tier Griffin Armor Set. Motoyasu had thought he had recognized it earlier, but he hadn't believed it. It was a set of armor that you could only get by hunting a Griffin that was above level 100. A hunt that was supposed to be impossible for anyone under level 90.

"This is the end." He said, raising his blade above his head. A ball of fire started to appear. "[Meteor Sword]."

Motoyasu didn't know what to do. There was no way he could block such an attack. But right behind him was Raphtalia and Midori, crying at Naofumi. If he just dodged, all three of them would die.

Swallowing hard, he lifted up his Spear.

It might not be possible, but he would be damned if he wasn't going to try. He started to draw whatever SP he had left, preparing to try to use his own skill. Exhaustion was flooding him. His mind hurt, and his body hurt. The cursed burns were screaming at him, but he wouldn't step aside.

But before the climatic clash of Skills could take place, someone dashed out in front of Motoyasu, directly into the path of the attack.

"[Meteor Shield]!"

A dome appeared around the group, protecting them from the oncoming attack. The resulting explosion nearly blinded Motoyasu, though he was still able to see the long white hair and black and red armor of a familiar figure.

"Oyaji!" Motoyasu shouted, realizing the cavalry had just arrived. It took him a little longer to notice the weapon he was holding. Or rather, the Shield he was holding. It looked a lot like Naofumi's Legendary Shield, only a little larger, and with a black orb in the center where Naofumi's green one would be.

"Sensei!?" Rita shouted, seeming shocked to see her teacher there.

Shirou didn't respond. His eyes were locked on the Demon above.

"So, who might thi…" The Demon started, but Shirou didn't talk on the battlefield. The Shield suddenly changed shape, taking on the form of a sword as the man jumped up with incredible strength towards the Demon.

The entire stadium shook from the contact of the two swords and Avenger was sent retreating backwards. The two clashed again and again, with the air trembling from the force of each blow.

Avenger was fast and strong, but Oyaji was faster and stronger. Soon the Demon was taking to the skies in order to avoid the onslaught. Shirou's sword turned into a bow and he pulled back the string. "[Splitter Shot]!"

Itsuki's skill. A rain of arrows flew up towards the Sword Demon who summoned up a Shield made of swords to defend himself.

Then a second attacker let himself be known. "Dreifach Blast!" A massive fire ball flew towards Avenger's sword barracked and blew it to bits, forcing the Demon back. "Attacking my castle, while I am home. You must have a death wish." The King himself said, as he stepped out onto the field, flanked by his own knights. The knights seemed unsure of themselves, but the King sure as hell didn't. He stood tall, with a walking staff in his right hand. Its ruby crystal glowing with power.

"So the Star Hero is actually moving. Here I thought you were just a washed-up has-been." The Demon said with a grin.

"We'll see." The King said before raising his cane and beginning to change. "I, the Hero of the Star, order the heavens. Cut off reason, retie it and release it…"

"Do you think I would just let you…!" The Demon started to move towards the King, only to be stopped.

"[Shield Prison]!" Shirou launched another one of the Shield Hero's Skills. The cage of shield surrounded Avenger, blocking him from sight completely and holding him still in the air as the king continued his spell.

"…Let the truth of destruction once more be read forth and manifest! Burn all things that lay in my way!" The King shouted as a massive amount of power radiated from his cane. He pointed it directly at the cage of shields. "Revelation Final Flare!"

The air seemed to pop as a blast of fire erupted from the King's cane. The fire shot straight towards the cage and the shields that bound the Sword Demon seemed to evaporate from the intensity of the fire.

The light and heat was so overwhelming that everyone had to turn their heads away. Their ears rang from the blast. The entire world seemed to shake.

But when it was finally over, they looked up and could only be shocked as there was the Demon of the Sword, still alive. He was gasping, the armor on his left arm was gone and a good deal of the skin had been burned away, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"…Maybe this will be more fun than I thought." He said with a forced grin. He was clearly in pain. "Goodbye then. Let us meet again sometime. On the battlefield. [Transport Sword]."

There was a flash of light and the man was gone.

"…Oh my god…" Motoyasu said, feeling like such an idiot. "I forgot we could do that."

Exhaustion hit him, and Motoyasu collapsed to the ground.

* * *

"Dammit all." Shirou grumbled as he drank down some restorative potions. His arm was already starting to recover, but it would be a good hour before it was back to normal.

He had been planning on breaking the Legendary Weapon rules once to block the King's fire magic with Svalinn, the Shield which held up the sun in Norse mythology. He would then use the damage received and his being outnumbered as an excuse to retreat. Creating and using the Shield was going to be taxing enough.

The King and Yami had played their parts perfectly, though it had annoyed Shirou how much time it took for the King to cast his buffs on Yami to boost her strength, he couldn't deny the results. Six different 'Revelation' level buff spells, each one tripling one of Yami's stats. That, along with a copy of the Legendary Weapon Replica that Shirou gave her made her a formidable opponent. And something to further confuse the Church.

Everything had gone pretty much to their quickly hashed out plan… sort of.

Motoyasu wasn't supposed to have woken up. Nor was he supposed to declare how little damage Shirou's stab had really done to him. Itsuki was not supposed to have a panic attack. And Naofumi was DEFINITELY not supposed to use his cursed series, four times over. He nearly turned himself into an actual demon, and if it hadn't been for the Holy Shroud Shirou had on under his armor, he would have been screwed.

The Queen would have to work her magic to edit out the murder face that Naofumi was giving before releasing the video.

Shirou had been forced to break the Legendary Weapon rules a second time, using the dagger Hanba.

It was a dagger that stemmed from the old Chinese legends about the Yellow Emperor. In it, the Yellow Emperor requests assistance from his mentor, Jiutian Xuannü, the goddess of war, longevity… and sex, for assistance in his war against evil god Chi You.

Chi You was flooding the land in a horrible miasma making it impossible for the armies to approach him. Jiutian Xuannü provides the Emperor with artifacts that would assist him in fighting Chi You. However, what ultimately dealt with Chi You's miasma was not one of the listed artifacts, but rather the Emperor's 'daughter', a demon of drought named Hanba. A girl with no named mother.

Some believed her to be the daughter of the war goddess, one of the proofs of the Yellow Emperor having her 'favor'. Though it was never directly stated.

The dagger that Shirou used was from a timeline in which the Demon Hanba was one of the artifacts bestowed by the War Goddess.

It had been a weapon Shirou had used in the past, proving itself when it drained Avenger's evil out of Saber. It had been used again at the final battle to help drain away the flood of curses coming from the Holy Grail.

…It also caused a three-year long draught throughout the entire region. Though the Emiya household preferred not to talk about that.

It had performed again, draining the curse's energy out of Naofumi. But Jian hadn't like it. She was bitter about a shield being used, but a knife? A KNIFE!?

"I couldn't use you to drain the curse out of Naofumi. We don't know what that would do to you." Shirou tried to comfort the Sword. "With a traced copy of the knife, I can just get rid of it, but the miasma could linger for years."

[A Legendary Weapon doesn't want your excuses.]

Shirou could only sigh in response. "Well, at least everything is over. The Church can't kill Naofumi now. Not when he is part of a fight against a 'real' Demon. It would martyr him to the people of this country, and that is the last thing they want."

Pushing himself up, he wrapped his arm in some traced clothes and began the track back to the inn. Yami should be transporting the Shield Hero there by now. Motoyasu might even join them.

He would have to care for their cursed wounds… and prepare the mountain of bullshit he was going to feed Motoyasu.

The best way to deal with a gullible hero was to be the first one in line when it comes time to feed them false information.

* * *

 **Got a beta. Hope it helps. I'm going to slowly replace the old chapters with cleaned up versions. I'm also changing all mention of Rarity into Quality as it is what makes more sense in context.**

* * *

 **Her connection to the Shield Hero gives Raphtalia the 'Guardian' origin, making Ascalon at least somewhat usable for her. This means that Shirou's influence might be giving his companions the 'Sword' origin. Especially Atla. Meaning the possibility of them using legendary weapons properly in the future is nonzero. Though it still isn't assured.**

 **It seems that my number of readers has decreased by around 20%, which makes me happy, but it means that some of you people who promised never to return still came back. Liars.**

 **Oh well. Classes start for me in just three hours, and I have an hour and a half ride to campus on the city bus. So better start my day.**

 **I wrote most of this while in the back of a car, without access to the internet, in order to rush out the chapter, since people seemed to want to know how it was going to go down. Since I am expecting to have three or four hours worth of homework before today is done. Honestly, fuck Computer Architecture and Numerical Analysis.**

* * *

Challenge Story: "Meats of the Sword Hero"

The Kingdom of Melromarc didn't know what to do when they summoned what looked to be a grown woman wearing a lion costume and demanding meat from them, so they simply released her out into the wild. The fools didn't know what they were doing, introducing a new King into these lands. Now Saber Lion will insert herself into her rightful place at the top of the food chain and became a Master of the Legendary Sword's 'Meats Series'.

"Gaaoooo! Give me MEAT!"


	43. Chapter 41

Shirou exited the room where he had been tending to Naofumi's wounds only to hear shouting nearby.

"Haven't you ever heard of women and children first!" Motoyasu shouted at the priests and nuns who wished to see to his cursed wounds.

"But Hero-sama…" The nun said, looking over at Raphtalia and Midori.

"My injuries can wait until after theirs are tended to! Use however much Holy Water you need, I can wait!" Motoyasu insisted, even though it was clear to see that his injuries were far worse. His back was a black and purple mess, and his face and arms also showed signs of the cursed burn. Still, he refused treatment until they treated the women and children.

Perhaps he was closer to being a hero than Shirou had first believed. Still, Shirou would have to put a stop to it.

"I would rather see to their wounds myself. Naofumi would kill me if he knew I let strangers tend to his party." Shirou said, getting the Spear Hero's attention as Shirou pulled off his Saint's Shroud and tossed it to him. "Soak this in water and put it on. It will work better than their Holy Water. I'll tend to Raphtalia-chan and Midori…-chan. Rita, get me a large basin of water!"

Shirou traced the holy katana, Yawarakai-Te, the Tender Hands, and using the same method as he used when dealing with Atla, he stored the concept of it in his blood, and let it drip into the water basin, which glowed with pale light. "Soak your hands in this. It will get ride of the curse. After that, a normal potion can handle the burns." Shirou said. "Now this is some powerful stuff, so make sure you don't get it on your seals. I'd rather Naofumi not have a heart attack when he wakes up and sees that the contracts aren't there anymore."

"Shirou-sama, how is Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked as she did as she was told. The effects were easily visible and the holy men who had gathered all gasped in surprise, as within seconds the powerful curse was almost completely dispelled. Motoyasu's wounds were also quickly healing under the power of the Saint's Shroud.

"His blood is more effective than Top-Grade Holy Water." One of the men said in awe. Though Shirou choose to ignore them. Whatever he said and did here would eventually be reported. It wasn't like he could tell them all to get lost without making a scene of it.

He lamented the lose of his mercenary identity, as its purpose of going about without creating a political statement had gone down the toilet a while ago. The girls back home would probably all laugh at Shirou's inability to walk down the street without being caught up in something.

He'd need a new cover for when he was off the job. A traveling repairman, perhaps?

"All things considered, Naofumi is doing well. He nearly destroyed his own left arm when he removed the Holy Shroud, but that wasn't anything normal healing magic couldn't solve. Same with his other small wounds. Besides that, he is only suffering from serious dehydration. He'll be back on his feet by morning." Shirou informed them.

"Dehydration? Why is he dehydrated?" Midori asked.

"Miasma and holy energy both naturally bind themselves to water. It's why Holy Water is what it is. When Avenger drained Naofumi of his miasma, he pulled out a good deal of the fluids inside of his body as well." Shirou explained to them.

"Oyaji, can you tell us why did Avenger drain Naofumi of that evil stuff? Why did he have it in the first place?" Motoyasu asked.

"I can't say for certain why Avenger would be trying to drain Naofumi's miasma, but if I had to take a rough guess, I would say it was to numb the Legendary Holy Sword so that he could use it more effectively. The Legendary Weapons don't exactly approve of being wielded by a demon wearing human skin." Shirou said. "As for Naofumi's miasma, it comes from…"

"It's because of the Cursed Series." A hoarse voice said from the stairs. Everyone turned their heads to see Naofumi, leaning against the handrail, his body wobbling slightly. He tried to take a step but stumbled and went falling down the stairs.

"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia and Midori shouted, going running to the man's aid. Though Naofumi's defense prevented him from taking any damage from the fall.

"Water." Naofumi gasped, on hand on his throat.

"I left an entire pitcher upstairs with you." Shirou was surprised to see him up alright, and that he still needed more water.

"Here, drink this." Raphtalia said, giving him the basin they had been soaking their hands.

"Why is it… glowing?" Naofumi asked as he looked at the liquid, before deciding he didn't care and just chugged the thing down… Three whole gallons! Sure he spilled some of it onto himself, but still! Holy hell! After he finished, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Geez, Oyaji wasn't joking about the dehydration." Motoyasu said with a low whistle.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Naofumi asked, glaring up at the Spear Hero.

Motoyasu scowled back. "Don't get the wrong impression. I was just worried about Raphtalia-chan and Midori-kun, they just happened to be following you."

"Now who sounds like a tsundere?" Naofumi scoffed, though his eyes quickly scanned over Raphtalia and Midori to make sure they were fine… they even softened somewhat. "I'm glad you two are alright." He said, patting their heads gently.

The Curse of Wrath had not been cured, but the accumulated darkness of the last month had been drained out of him. The difference in him was shocking, as when he wasn't looking at Motoyasu, his eyes almost seemed normal. It was almost like how he had been that very first day.

It wouldn't last. Even when Shirou beat back the Sword of Sloth, it was still there, lingering in the background. Motoyasu seemed taken aback by the sudden change in Naofumi.

"What about the others? How are they?" Naofumi asked.

"Everyone's alright. Shirou-sama arrived just in time. Keel and Sakura got out at the first sign of trouble, and Sadeena-nee-san had drunk herself unconscious before the fighting started. She's hung over in the other room right now." Raphtalia explained. Shirou's lips twitched at the thought of the orca woman, as when they explained that the Sword Hero was a demon and was driven off by Shirou, she had gotten extremely confused and complained that they shouldn't tease her while she was drunk.

"That's good." Naofumi said with a nod before looking at Shirou. "What took you so long?"

Shirou's mouth twitched a second time. "Sorry. I should have been there sooner. However, after you and Motoyasu decided to be children and fight a pointless battle, I went to the King, hoping I'd be able to… persuade him into calling off the match. However, when I invited myself into his study, I found him unconscious on the ground."

"You broke into the King's study?" "Was he dead?" Motoyasu and Naofumi asked, one in shock the other curious.

"No, the King wasn't dead. It seems that the Sword Demon used a good deal of magic in order to knock the man unconscious before he went after the two of you. Most likely, he thought that the King, being one of the seven Legendary Star Heroes, was the greatest threat around, and that with him disabled, no one would be able to stop him. It took me a while to revive the King and get back to you." Answering Naofumi's question and ignoring Motoyasu's.

"Huh? So that's the reason he wondered off with the Trash King at the feast." Naofumi said with a frown. This angered a few of the people standing nearby.

"Hey, don't diss the King. He and Oyaji saved our asses." Motoyasu said. "You really missed something impressive. I have no idea that old King had it in him… Though it still wasn't enough to take down Avenger."

"He picked a bad element. Fire is next to useless against the Demon. If he had chosen Wind or Earth, then it would be over. As is, the Demon had a chance to teleport away." Shirou said with a shake of his head.

…Naofumi facepalmed. "I forgot we could do that. I should have just teleported us away." Naofumi groaned. Motoyasu also shifted uncomfortably, as he too had forgotten they could have easily just gotten away rather than fighting.

Looking back, Shirou was very lucky they had been too freaked out to remember that.

Sighing, Shirou walked over to Naofumi… and punched him in the face, knocking him flat on his ass.

"What was that for?" Naofumi demanded, holding onto his cheek.

"That was for being an idiot and using the Cursed Series." Shirou scolded him. "If it wasn't for Avenger's greed and wanting to harvest your curse for his own use, you might have ended up destroying your own soul. For someone who likes to focus on self-preservation, that was a suicidal move."

"Yeah, well next time you should get your rush on. Then maybe we wouldn't be pushed into a corner." Naofumi grumbled.

"Alright, so is anyone going to fill me in on what the Cursed Series is?" Motoyasu asked, crossing his arms. "All I know is that the Shield isn't supposed to have that kind of offensive power and that while he was using it, Naofumi looked like even more of a bastard than he normal does."

"The Cursed Series is a remnant from the original Avenger from well over a thousand years ago. Something that corrupted the Legendary Holy Weapon system after his death. To put it bluntly, it is a method for him to resurrect himself." Shirou said, glancing at the two Heroes to gauge their reactions. Complete shock. There were even a few gasps from the uninvited audience. "The Cursed Series is unlocked by the Hero falling into despair and then it messes with their personality and tempts them with power to make them fall further and further into the darkness. Once their souls are completely broken, 'Angra Mainyu' replaces them entirely."

"Are… Are you being serious?" Naofumi asked, to which Shirou nodded. Many of the people in the audience were mumbling as to how they had never heard of such a thing, but didn't dare speak up in front of Shirou and the Heroes.

"I don't know much about who this Issei guy was, but I'm guessing there was something that caused him to fall to despair." Shirou said.

"…Yeah. The first thing he did when we got summoned was beg to be sent back. Said he had an ill sister that was about to go through surgery." Motoyasu said with a sad nod. "I wonder how fast he fell. Just an hour after we got here, he was already talking about the world being full of traitors, and by the following morning, he could fight three adventurers who were all higher level than him at once and make it seem like a joke."

Shirou winced at the mention of Illya, and his heart sank. Before he collected himself, Naofumi spoke up. "Why the hell didn't you warn me about it?"

Shirou swallowed down the pain and pressed forward. Hopefully the two would mistake the somewhat absent look in his eyes as him being deep. "I doubted you would believe me, and your survival and progress were too important for me to risk you questioning me. There are a lot of things that I haven't told the two of you for this reason."

"Oyaji… are… are you God?" Motoyasu asked, hesitantly.

Shirou looked at the young man with surprise, and then burst into laughter.

"God? Seriously? How stupid are you?" Naofumi said, giving Motoyasu a strange look.

"Hey, it isn't that ridiculous! I mean, he knows more about the Legendary Weapons than even I do, he has magical healing blood, his companions carry around sacred and blessed weapons, and when he was pushing back Avenger, he was wielding the Legendary Shield, Sword and Bow and used both Shielder and Archer class skills!" Motoyasu shouted, trying to justify his claim that Shirou was indeed God.

"Magical healing blood? Skills?" Naofumi repeated, having not been around to see those things.

"Am I a god? You know, I never actually thought about it. I suppose there are those who might think I am a god. I have created a world, after all." Shirou said through his chuckles. This brought shocked faces to those listening, though Shirou shook his head. "No Motoyasu, I am not a god. As for what I am… that's complicated."

Shirou then made a show of sighing and rubbing his temples. "Though, I suppose it is about time I tell you. Tell me, how much do you two know about Fitoria, the God of Birds and Queen of all Filolial?"

The two shook their heads. "Not much really, besides that she named Firo as her heir." Naofumi said, causing surprise, not just from Motoyasu, but everyone in the room.

"Fitoria is an actual god, a being powerful enough to destroy the planet, if she ever put her mind to it. She was hatched and raised by one of the Legendary Heroes from a long long time ago. One of the legends about her is that she kept one of the Legendary Holy Swords, used by a Hero of the past, using her own power to stop it from vanishing. Well, I can testify to the truth of this legend." To punctuate this statement, Shirou quickly manifested Jian in her base form. "Years ago, when I was a child, I was caught up in a monster attack and left on the brink of death. That, was when I met Fitoria.

"You see, I have a very unique form of magic, which bends the rules of the world and allows me to synchronize with any kind of weapon. Fitoria used this fact to embed the old Legendary Holy Sword inside of my body, merging the two together. I had lost all of my memories from before then, and they were replaced with memories from the Sword." Shirou said with a small smile. "I guess now you know why I never partied with either of you."

"You're a Sword Hero." Raphtalia said, covering her mouth.

"It would be more accurate to say that I am the old Legendary Sword itself, since it is fused with my body. Though even that isn't quite right. Like I said, it's complicated." Shirou said with a shake of the head.

"That doesn't explain how you could use the other weapons." Motoyasu said as he tried to wrap his mind around it.

"When the old wielder died, the Sword became separated from the Legendary Weapon System. Because of that, and my unique magic it became easier to bend the rules, letting me copy other weapon types and use their skills. But at the same time, I am no longer connected to the World and don't receive many of the benefits of being a Hero. I don't get stronger from Mastering Weapons, or Awakening them. I can't level up past level 100. I don't have any SP, which means I have to pay for using the Sword's full power with my life force."

"What!?" Motoyasu and Naofumi shouted together.

"Don't worry. Human life force is a regenerating energy source. I didn't use enough today to shorten my lifespan. Still, I am very, very tired." Shirou said with a sigh. "I know you have more questions, but they will have to wait for tomorrow. I'll try to explain more when we meet with the King to discuss how to handle the Avenger situation."

Naofumi's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell should I meet with that bastard?"

"Hey, what is your probl…!" Motoyasu started to shout at Naofumi, but Shirou cut him off.

"Forget it, Motoyasu. Naofumi has every right to hate the King and his daughter, after they and the church framed him for rape." Shirou said.

"Wh… What are you talking about! They never framed him for anything he didn't do!" Motoyasu shouted.

"It has been hundreds of years since Avenger last manifested, and in that time, the stories about the Demon shifted until almost all truth was lost. The Church of this nation, the Church of the Three Heroes, claim that it is the Shield Hero that is always the demon. But they couldn't simply kill him the moment he was summoned, not without putting off the other three. So instead they arranged for him to be kept as weak as possible until he could be disposed of, or revealed himself to be a true demon. Likely, with Avenger's identity revealed, Naofumi's name will be cleared." Shirou said, Motoyasu seemed like he would continue to object, but Shirou knew how to pacify him. "I'd ask you to forgive the Princess for her deception. She likely didn't want to be a part of it, but with her father the King and the Pope himself pressuring her, she wouldn't have much of a choice. Besides, she has been raised to believe that the Shield Hero is the devil. All sins are forgiven if it is to combat the ultimate evil."

Motoyasu froze as the reasonable excuse for the Princess's actions was given. Shirou could tell he would defend her to the end. But he could accept that she was an unwilling pawn in it. Naofumi made a stink face about it, but didn't object when he saw Shirou waving him down.

The two watched as the wheels went round in Motoyasu's head and his face went through a series of emotions. He looked as though he was in actual physical pain from trying to come to terms with what he had just been told, his hand coming up and clutching at his head. "I'm going to ask the King about this." He said as he got up from the table and started out the door, pausing momentarily to look back at Naofumi before shaking his head and leaving.

With him gone, Shirou's eyes went to the priests and nuns. "What are you all still doing here?" Shirou said, narrowing his eyes a little and causing them to jump and run out.

No sooner were they gone then Naofumi rounded on Shirou. "There is no way that Bitch Princess is innocent." He growled, hate once again in his eyes. "You didn't see it. The way she looked at me when everyone's back was turned. She took pleasure in setting me up."

"Yeah, I know. But Motoyasu isn't capable of believing a woman would do such a thing, and convincing him that you are innocent is more important than your vengeance." Shirou said with a sigh, though Naofumi still wasn't happy about it. "Don't worry. I don't intend for her to get off scot free forever. Now is just not the time." Shirou then got up himself. "I'm going to head to sleep. I'd suggest you do the same."

However, before he could go anywhere, a hand grabbed onto Shirou's ear and gave it a hard pull. "Oh no, you don't." Rita said as she yanked on the man's ear, a cold smile on her face. "We are going to have a little talk now. Please excuse us."

"Ah, Rita… I get it… Please stop… Ears aren't meant for pulling…" Shirou tried desperately to reason with her, but she wouldn't listen.

He was getting flashback from this.

Naofumi and Raphtalia just watched them go. Raphtalia with a puzzled look on her face, while Naofumi laughed at Shirou's pain.

* * *

Itsuki sat at the table in the room he had been given to spend the night in. His injuries from the battle had been checked out and he no longer had so much as a scratch on him. But even so, he couldn't stop shaking.

He could still feel it. The feel of Avenger's aura pressing down on him. The promise of death that the Demon had given him. The feeling of helplessness.

It wasn't fair.

After being summoned to the world, he had been convinced that this was his chance. Just like when he had first discovered he was an ESPer, he felt like he was special. That his abilities put him at the top of the world and that he would never have to deal with people putting him down.

But just like in his old world, reality came crashing down on him.

In his old life, it had been him going to the all ESPer school and realizing that his 'Accuracy' power was not special at all, not when compared to people who could control gravity or throw fire out of their hands. His power was something that could be replicated with just a few years spent on the firing range. He had been weak, and while he hadn't necessarily been bullied, he felt his weakness. He had been so humiliated that he broke away from society and drowned his misery in video games. A world of numbers were everything was fair. Save for that his ESPer ability could be applied to the game to give him an edge, turning the commonly believed to be weak Archer class into the best character.

He had been happy when he had died, only to find himself given another chance at life inside of his favorite game and as his favorite class. Even better, he was a Hero of Legend and had abilities and knowledge that gave him an advantage over everyone else. For almost an entire month he went around playing the hero and listening to people sing his praise, getting to right wrongs and be the Ally of Justice like in the animes.

With the exception of his unfortunate running with the rogue optional boss, everything had been great. Then he saw Naofumi and Motoyasu's duel, and realized that something was up.

How was it that they were so much stronger than he was? Sure he had been doing some questing rather than focusing on grinding out levels, but he couldn't have been that far behind. It just couldn't have been right.

It wasn't fair.

Then, when the true villain of the story showed himself, Itsuki jumped at the opportunity to show his stuff… only to be completely humiliated.

Avenger had just ignored him, as if he hadn't even been worth considering as he fought with Naofumi and his party members. Shot after shot was either deflected or dodged without the monster so much as looking in Itsuki's direction, as if he was an ESPer himself with the Perfect Evade ability. Even when Itsuki used his Falcon Shot, firing an arrow that broke the sound barrier, it was treated as a joke and dodged with ease. No matter what he did, nothing worked and the Demon continued to ignore him… until he didn't.

Itsuki could only swallow at the memory of the monster's eyes as he walked slowly towards him, producing what could only be described as a killing intent. One so ferocious that it rooted Itsuki to the ground, even as everyone else ran for their lives. He not only had to be rescued by Naofumi, but that useless girl Rishia also jumped in the way, making him look bad.

Throughout the fight that followed, it became more and more clear that he was the weakest one out there, even weaker than Naofumi's crossdressing winged child. Motoyasu and Naofumi were stronger than he was. So were Naofumi's party members, and the Optional Boss from before, and the King. All of them were stronger than him. And Avenger...

Itsuki wanted to write Avenger off as a supposed-to-lose boss fight, but he couldn't. He couldn't ignore that feeling that the man had put in him. The feeling of being completely and utterly insignificant. Of being helpless before the being that could be his certain death.

And in the very end, he had received the same feeling from Naofumi. When he used that power that shouldn't have existed. When he had transformed into just as much of a Demon as Issei had. They were monsters. Both of them were monsters!

It wasn't fair!

This was supposed to be a world of numbers! A World where everything was fair! But it wasn't! They were all stronger than him! Just like before he was the weakest!

They were cheating. He didn't know how, but it was the only explanation. They had found the GM and had gotten cheat codes from him, or something.

"Itsuki-sama! We are so glad that you are alright!" Itsuki looked up to see Mald and his other companions standing over him. It appeared as if the armored man had tears in his eyes. "Itsuki-sama, we were all so moved by the way you stayed behind and fought to protect us all from the Demon's wrath! You're bravery and honor is truly an example to us all!"

"I… Yes. I'm glad that you are all right as well." Itsuki mumbled a little.

"It is a shame that even after all of your efforts, the Demon managed to escape, but we know that you will defeat him next time. It is just as you always say Itsuki, in the end, Justice always wins!" Mald shouted, a hand clapping against his metal breast plate.

"Justice." Itsuki repeated, sitting up taller.

Yes, that's right. He might have lost this scripted battle, but he was still the Hero of the Bow. He was an Ally of Justice who would always win in the end. No, he himself WAS Justice!

A smile spread across his lips as the Bow Hero began to laugh. "Right you are Mald! I will show them all the power of my Justice! I will defeat the Sword Demon and the Waves! I will bring peace to the entire World! Hahahaha!"

The adventurers looked a little concerned as Itsuki kept laughing, even as they vocally agreed with him, though he didn't even notice. It was only their praise that reached his ears.

He was the Hero of the Bow. He was the Greatest. He was JUSTICE!

Requirements met: [Cursed Series Unlocked – Bow of Pride]

"Itsuki-sama?" Rishia said. "What about the others?"

The girl jumped as the Bow Hero's face contorted and he glared at her.

"What others?"

* * *

 **So, everyone wondering how all this was going to bite Shirou in the ass, that is how. His killing intent was too much for Itsuki's tiny little balls to handle and he broke.**

 **And with what Itsuki is about to do to Rishia, after what she did for him, he is going to earn himself a place on EVERYONE'S shit list.**

* * *

 **For those confused by the damage last chapter:**

"knaka148 chapter 42 . Aug 28

OK, I'm seeing a lot of confusion on the multiplicative stacking, so I might as well clear it up.

Basically, the way I understand it, multiplicative stacking means you apply each increase or decrease to a new base. In this case, a 20% damage reduction means 80% of damage gets through, so 0.8*0.8*0.8*0.8 0.4096, meaning 59.04% of damage is blocked, or about 60%.

For an example, lets say that an attack does 10,000 base damage before stuff like defense. The first 20% reduction would reduce this to 8,000 damage. A second 20% reduction would work off the new base of 8,000, giving 6,400 damage, not 6,000. A third 20% reduction will reduce this to 5,120 damage, and a fourth would reduce this to 4,096 damage, almost a 60% reduction.

This is why in the story Ascalon does 0 damage, as it has a -100% modifier. A -100 modifier gives a multiplier of 0, and anything multiplied by 0 will be 0."

 **It should also be pointed out that even with Ascalon equip, Raphtalia can do damage to humans with a different weapon. So Shirou doesn't get the same kind of benefits from equipping 4 weapons as Naofumi. This is because when the effect is active is different. Naofumi's Shields are always in contact with him and he is the target of the effect. The Sword is only in contact with the enemy when the sword hits, and the target of the effect is the enemy, not Shirou.**

 **This is why Shirou isn't going to be getting 300 time damage multipliers. Though it should be noted that the singular values of the enhancements are stronger on offense. level 10 on the shield is -20% while level 10 on the sword is +150%. As it so happens, this means that 4 shields almost exactly cancels out the sword's bonus damage, at at least at level level 10. (by accident, not design) At level 20 the damage would be down to 50% of normal. But things aren't likely to get that high due to leveling cost scaling being too ridiculous.**

* * *

 **With classes starting the only time I have to write is the hour I spend on the bus every day without internet. I'm already being given far too much homework to have free time during the week. But I'd still like to keep writing this, and I know I'll lose interest if I put it down for too long again.**


	44. Weapon Functions So Far

Someone asked if I would create a list of all of the weapon abilities that are in the story thus far.

I'd like to note that the Legendary Weapons are not ONLY limited by the wielder's imagination. They have a finite number of abilities that are unlocked by the understanding of the Hero in question. Each weapon has abilities that the Hero will simply be given regardless of prior understanding, and unique abilities.

* * *

[Unlock Form] - A Legendary Weapon can absorb materials into it. If the material can be used to unlock a new form it will do so, else the item will be stored in the Item Box. The time required to unlock a new form is dependent on the grade of the material and the number of forms the weapon has already unlocked. As the Weapon gains more forms, it can unlock new forms faster.

* * *

[Item Box] - The Legendary Weapons have a subspace to keep unused materials.

* * *

[Dismantle] - A monster corpse absorbed into the Legendary Weapon can be broken down into its basic parts automatically.

* * *

[Recipe Synthesis] - A Legendary Weapon can unlock recipes for cooking, potion making, smithing, etc, through mastery of certain weapon forms. The quality of the output is always Normal, regardless of the quality of the inputted materials. (Unless the Hero has an ability that says otherwise. For example, when the Cook Job reachs level 10, the job allows higher qualities of food to be made from recipes, depending on the Hero's cooking stat.)

* * *

[Weapon Copy] - Weapons that possess the identity of the weapon can be copied into the Legendary Weapon without consuming the original copy. For example, the Legendary Sword can copy any weapon, so long as the WORLD considers it a 'sword'. Weapon forms gained in such a manner have level requirements for use. Just like with [Unlock Form] the time required to copy a weapon is relative to the power of the weapon and will decrease as the number of forms the Hero has increases.

* * *

[Weapon Mastery] - Weapons can be Mastered through use, repeatedly absorbing more copies of the unlock material, or by simply having the weapon equipped long enough outside of battle. Once the Weapon is Mastered, the Hero gains the weapons Equipment Bonuses, even with the form is not equipped.

* * *

[Equipment Bonuses] - Equipment Bonuses are bonuses that come from individual weapon forms and can be mastered to make permanent. It should be noted that some Equipment Bonuses are unique, such as +10% Damage-to-Hybrids or Poison Resistance(small). Only the first weapon with this bonus mastered will count. After the bonus is mastered, the bonus will disappear from all other weapons that would give it. However, it can be added to with higher versions of the same Equipment Bonus. (+10% Damage-to-Hybrids and +15% Damage-to-Hybrids)

* * *

[Awaken Weapon] - Once a Weapon Form is Mastered, it can be Awakened by consuming Energy gained from [Weapon Proficiency] in order to provide even greater Equipment Bonuses. Numerical bonuses will be increased by 50% rounding down (+15% Damage-to-Hybrids becomes +22% Damage-to-Hybrids). Nonnumerical bonuses increase by one grade (poison resistance(small) becomes poison resistance(medium))

* * *

[Upgrade] - A weapon that has been Awakened can be Upgraded by consuming more Energy gained from [Weapon Proficiency]. There is only a percent chance of success with each attempt and each form can only have up to 5 successes. Each success increases the stats of the Base stats of the weapon by +20% (additive stacking). (This will be shown as an up in the Weapon's Quality)

* * *

[Weapon Enhancement] - Weapons can be enhanced by using [Soul Fragments] gathered from enemies absorbed into Legendary Weapon. An enhanced weapon gains damage /damage-reduction against the enemy type the weapon is specialized for. These bonuses will be different depending on the level of specialization of the weapon. As the Level of the enhancement gets higher, it becomes more and more expensive.

* * *

[Reinforce Weapon] - Weapon Forms can be reinforced to a certain level (it's the (0/10) thing you keep seeing) by infusing the weapon with money, minerals or gems. The more powerful the weapon, the more value needs to be infused before it will be reinforced. Reinforcement has a 100% chance of success, and each level will give +1 to the Base Attack of the weapon (multiplied by Upgrade's bonuses, up to +2).

* * *

[Weapon Tempering] - Nearly identical to [Reinforce Weapon] save for that the required material is specialized for each Weapon Form and there is no limit to the number of times it can be done. There is also a percent chance of success, and if the process fails, all previous Tempering levels will be lost.

* * *

[Status Enchantment] - Individual Weapon forms can be Enchanted by infusing them with certain materials in order to add special properties, depending on the material used. Rare and more magically potent materials may give higher bonuses. If you use a new Enchantment, it will overwrite the old one.

* * *

[Job Assignment] - A Hero can equip themselves and their party members with 'Jobs' that offer special bonuses. These Jobs can be upgraded, up to once a day each, and grant more stats as they level, with extra perks gained every 10 levels. Jobs are unlocked and upgraded by consuming monster body parts.

(In canon, only the Hero had Jobs)

* * *

[Title/Fame] - As a Hero's deeds become more well known, the Hero will gain statistical bonuses in relation to those deeds. The more famous the deed, the more power it will grant the Hero.

(I completely made this one up.)

* * *

[Weapon Merger] - Two 'Awakened' weapon forms can be merged together at the cost of 'Energy' in order to produce a new form. The cost of the merger is relative to the power and compatibility of the weapon forms. The Merged Weapon Forms possess no equipment bonuses, but inherent the Unique Abilities, Enhancement Bonuses, Status Enchantment Bonuses, and a mixture of the Base Stats of the parent weapons. Merged Weapons can themselves be merged, but the cost increases exponentially with each merge.

(This was a thing in the WN, under the name Weapon Synthesis. Only it didn't have a required cost and could be done freely and unlimitedly. It would have been FAR too world endingly broken with Shirou, so I nerfed it.)

* * *

[Weapon Evolution - As a member of the Party, the Legendary Weapons can gain experience in battle, gaining Evolution Ranks and Evolution Points. Evolution Points can be spent to unlock new skills/abilities which the Legendary Weapon can use. More skills/abilities become available as the Weapon's Evolution Rank increases. Evolution Points gained at each rank is equal to the new rank times 5.

(Another non-canon upgrading method.)

* * *

[Over Customize] - A Hero can improve the other methods of empowering the Legendary Weapon by spending Money in order to improve them. For example: Improving the [Weapon Tempering] feature could make the feature cost less materials, or have a greater chance of success. Improving the [Status Enchantment] feature could result in more power granted for the resources put into it. Money can also be spent to buy Hidden Abilities for individual weapon forms.

(No seriously. This is a thing. Shirou will have learned it by getting tired of his attempts at 'Tempering' failing and trying to just throw money at it to make it work… only for it to have an actual effect. He will embarrassingly admit to having found it soon.)

Shirou: "We never tell Rin about this."

* * *

I think there are six other weapon strengthening methods that aren't on this list, some of which will be explored soon, others will be a little while.


	45. Chapter 42

Shirou head was throbbing. It had been for a long time.

Growing horns made of iron was not comfortable. It probably wasn't necessary, but he wanted to make sure that there was no doubt in anyone's minds that he was 'evil'. Then Rita decided to give him an earful about how stupid and reckless he was. She was not happy with him making himself out to be a villain, no matter how much he tried to explain the benefits.

It was almost nostalgic, standing there and being lectured on common sense by a young woman who barely reached his collar bone.

It was getting pretty late by the time Shirou got back to the room he was sharing with Fohl. Only when he opened the door, he saw Atla sitting on Fohl's bed next to the window, the light of the moon causing her white hair to seemingly glow as the wind pushed it gently back. She wasn't in her lion theme pajamas, but rather a more normal white nighty that Shirou did not recall her having.

Shirou had been so surprised to see her there that he nearly overlooked the lump in the bed. Fohl was there, fast asleep. Atla smiled as she could sense that Shirou had noticed her brother. The way that she could 'see' such things as attention being given was always startling. "Onii-sama wanted me to stay with him until everyone else returned, thinking to protect me. But he has already fallen asleep."

"Is that so?" Shirou said, his eyes going to an empty glass on the table. He walked over to it and placed a finger against the rim of the glass. He found what he had expected to find. "Where did you get the sleeping potion?"

"Some of the women in the caravan made it for me." Atla said, without any sign of a guilty conscious.

What a frightening little girl.

Shirou could only give a tired sigh. Of course those women gave it to her. Many of the former sex slaves in that group were 'rooting' for Atla and helped her with all kinds of ways of dealing with her over protective brother. They were also probably responsible for the thin white dress. The Demihuman women didn't seem to understand the concept of being 'too young'. The former sex slaves didn't didn't seem to care about interracial taboo either. So long as there was no baby, everything was kosher.

He supposed he should just be glad they didn't give her an aphrodisiac instead.

"It's really late, and a growing girl really should be getting her rest." Shirou told the girl as he moved over to the window himself to look up at the sky before sitting down at a desk and pulling out some paper and ink.

"What about you?" Atla asked Shirou, noticing he wasn't about to sleep himself.

"I'm going to be writing some instructions on some of the uses of the Legendary Weapons, as well as my understanding of their metaphysical behavior. I don't have time to go over everything with Motoyasu and Itsuki anymore." Shirou explained as he wrote, writing in Japanese, since Naofumi and Motoyasu had basically accepted that he had memories from the old Sword Hero and would know Japanese. "Once we confirm that your uncle has cleared Naofumi's name and we make sure that those three aren't going to go wasting their time, our group is going to start moving again. We have five days to reach the capital of Shildfrieden before their Wave hits."

Escorting the caravan put them all behind schedule. If he wanted to keep the peace, he would need to go to each country and make a show of force at their Waves. While it would still be illogical for them to try to go against their agreement to not attack Melromarc, if one or two started to question things after the Demon Sword incident, a show of Shirou's anti-army capabilities, and the knowledge that the King of Wisdom had gotten off his ass again, should be enough to shut them up.

Even the Clock Tower isn't arrogant enough to make an enemy of a Heroic Spirit, no matter the kind of experimental data Rider's body represented. And with Naofumi's name cleared, the biggest reason for wanting to invade in the first place would be gone.

Most of the Countries just wanted to maintain the status quo and didn't want any Hero to be named as involved, meaning it didn't matter to them what Shirou's reputation was, as long as it was never linked to anyone in their country. If Shirou didn't let his identity leak at the Waves, everything would be fine.

He would take care of the other nations, but he needed to be sure that the other three weren't wasting time like they had been, attending fancy parties, hanging around Guild Halls and trying to scrape together money. Shirou supposed Naofumi's financial situation had been bad, so his actions were forgivable. But now that he had government support and a basically full party, he should refocus himself on growing stronger, rather than scrounging together enough money to buy equipment and party members.

Shirou would also need to convince Motoyasu at least to ditch the dead weight. With a Demon on the loose, making him see that going to heavily populated areas and dragging along a cheer squad was too dangerous, and that he needed to leave them behind for their own safety.

Especially the practically mind controlling Princess.

As for Itsuki, hopeful the incident with his companions leaving him, and Rishia staying behind, would help him see who his real friends are. If he develops a Companion Series, then everything should be fine.

Shirou stopped his writing as he felt a small hand on his sleeve. Atla was looking up at him with a worried expression. "You are alright, aren't you?" Atla asked.

"Hm, of course I am." Shirou said, not really understanding why she was concerned.

"...I was watching." Atla said softly, after a short pause. "I couldn't see it very well because of the distance, but I could still feel the fight from here. I know how intense it got. Even my brother could see that final attack. Then your aura just disappeared and..."

Atla stopped as Shirou placed a hand on her head and stroked her gently. "I'm sorry I worried you. I arranged for your uncle to use a very impressive attack that I would be able to easily guard and then I teleported away. I wasn't in any real danger."

"Did you know that I can't cry?" Atla asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Even if you were to die, I wouldn't be able to shed a tear. No matter how bad I feel, no matter how much pain I am in, or how sad I get, I won't be able to cry."

"Atla, I won't die." Shirou said, sounding confident, even though he knew that life was never so certain.

"...I can see it in your aura when you are lying to me." Atla said, grabbing onto Shirou even tighter, as if he was about to slip through her fingers that very second. "Shirou-sama. I want to be strong."

Shirou blinked in surprise at the determination in the little girl's voice.

"I know that you are going to keep putting yourself in dangerous situations. You are the sword that fights to defend the world. It is simply who you are. But if that is the case, then who will protect you?" Atla said in the same tone that Shirou must have heard a hundred times before. "I want to be the one to always stand by your side. If you are going to be the Sword, then I wish to be your Scabbard."

"...Scabbard?" Shirou repeated.

It was an odd word choice. Most people would use Shield rather than Scabbard. And the way that she said it, as if she really meant that word. It caused something to click into place. Something Shirou should have noticed a while ago.

He could still feel the presence of Avalon and Excalibur inside of the girl. The two Noble Phantasms had slowly drained their energy, and none of Saber's magical energy remained, but the projections themselves were still there.

Even if the World didn't fight Shirou's Traces, the girl's own natural magic resistance should have broken them down after a few hours. Given how high of quality her circuits were, they shouldn't have even lasted a whole hour. But rather than breaking the items down, she seemed to be clinging to them, even stabilizing them and integrating them.

"I see." Shirou said, his mind racing a little. "You've been having dreams, haven't you?"

The girl nodded, and Shirou swallowed. She was going through a Dream Cycle, or something similar.

Od carried with it a good deal of information about the person it came from. Avalon had caused Shirou to have dreams of battle for years, long before he had ever met Saber in person. Those dreams had probably done a lot to shape him as a person. But who was Atla having dreams about? Saber, or Shirou. Shirou found himself not wanting to know. Neither were the kind of thing you show children.

Shirou tried to dissolve his traces, but Atla's soul held strong to them and refused to let them fade, filling in any gaps that appeared in Shirou's trace with her own Od in order to hold it together.

"Being a Scabbard for someone like me isn't easy." Shirou said calmly.

"That's why I need to be strong." Atla replied.

Shirou closed his eyes and sighed. There was no winning here. The girl wasn't asking his opinion, simply stating what she was going to do. And when had Shirou ever managed to change a woman's mind?

"Well, the first step to growing stronger is to get a good night's sleep. Children do their most growing while they are asleep." Shirou said with a smile.

Atla paused, considering this. "Can I sleep here with you?"

"You can sleep with your brother, if you must." Shirou told the girl. She pouted a little, as that wasn't what she wanted, but she decided it was the best she was going to get. After the girl climbed back into bed, Shirou turned towards the window again and looked out at the moon.

A Scabbard, huh? It had been a month since he had last seen his old Scabbard. His family.

It felt like ages.

He slowly pushed away the thought, before it could get a hold on him. He shook himself, and was going to turn back towards his work, when he eyes caught something. Something very far away.

The inn was a three story building, surrounded by smaller structures, towards the middle of the town, and the window had an almost unobstructed view of a good portion of the city, including the castle. Shirou's eagle-like eyes, which he always kept at least somewhat reinforced, spotted the small movement on the castle roof and old habit caused him to focus on it. His subconscious mind registering that there were no patrols on the roof before his conscious mind did, and questioned why anyone would be up there so late at night.

He reinforced his vision a bit further and could see over the two and a half miles with easy, making out the long braided green-hair of Rishia as she stood on the edge of the castle balcony, over six stories up, with the moon at her back. He could see her shaking, and starting to lean forward.

Shirou jumped from his seat and was in the window frame in the blink of an eye, reinforcing his body as much as he could and kicking off with his level enhanced strength, blasting the window frame into pieces as he jumped. By the time he reached the next roof, he had called up four copies of a Sword with the speed Status Enchantment, the speed barrier ruptured around him. Three seconds later, he finished his chant for another boost of speed and was moving at nearly twice the speed of sound.

The girl stepped off the ledge and began to plummet towards the earth.

Shirou pushed himself as hard as he could, willing himself to get there in time. His brain did a calculation and found that he would reach the base of the castle only feet before she hit.

There wouldn't be enough time to slow her down. Her body would be crushed.

As Shirou rushed over the castle walls and towards the falling girl, he shouted inside of his mind.

'Jian. The Arrow Falls Waypoint!'

As Shirou's fingertips wrapped around the girl's arm, the both of them vanished in a flash of light.

Shirou twisted himself about in the air, using his body to shield the girl as the two of them slammed together into the water at the base of the waterfall when Shirou had once left Rita and the orphan children to brave the mountains.

A huge splash of water soaked the nearby landscape as Shirou shot down to the bottom of the deep pool and slammed into the rocky depths. Shirou found himself envying Naofumi, who would have been able to brush such things off. It hurt like fucking hell, having the massive rocks forced into his back. He had still been moving at more than a hundred miles an hour at first impact. But he would live.

Once he recovered himself, he jumped from the water and back to the surface, bringing the girl with him. "Rishia, are you alright?" Shirou asked, after snorting out some water that had gotten lodged in his nose.

The girl was coughing up water, but she was still alive and breathing. Shirou started to give a sigh of relief before Rishia looked up at him and he choked on that sigh. Her face had a large lump that was starting to color itself a bruise. The hit was likely already two hours old and hadn't been tended to. There were other marks on her legs and arms, and perhaps others hidden by her clothes.

"What happened?" Shirou asked, knowing that she hadn't received any injuries during his playacting Avenger.

"Sh...irou-sama." Rishia managed to say before beginning to sob.

* * *

It took a good deal of time and liberal use of calming hypnotism to get the story out of Rishia.

After 'Avenger' had gotten away, Itsuki had been taken to a healer and his minor injuries seen to, but he was still rather shaken by the whole ordeal. She had tried to comfort him, but he wouldn't listen to her. Then the rest of the party appeared and successfully worked to cheer Itsuki up.

Only when they did, he started acting strange. He was speaking as though he was the only hero, and the only one who could get stronger.

And when Rishia suggested working together with Motoyasu and Naofumi, and trying out Shirou's advice, he exploded at her. He called her a traitor and a spy, saying she was working with the bandits, criminals and 'demons'. He called her useless and weak, saying that she did nothing but hold back their divine Justice. All the while the others were encouraging him to go on.

Itsuki pushed her away, saying that he wanted her out. He told her to leave and never come back. When she tried to beg him to let her stay, the others grabbed her and pulled her outside. They throw her down a flight of stairs, which was the cause of her injuries.

When she finally pulled herself together and climbed the stairs back up to the room, Itsuki was gone.

Listening to her caused Shirou's blood to run cold.

"After everything the Count did to me… Repaying my debt to Itsuki-sama was the only reason I had left to live. It was the only thing keeping me going." Rishia cried, into her hands. Then with a cry, she lunged for the weapons at Shirou's side, though Jian would have none of that, and zapped her when she attempted to grab on.

As Rishia shook violently, Shirou grabbed onto her, and took her hands away from the dual blades. The girl didn't resist. She just continued to cry. "Please. Just let me die."

Shirou didn't know what to say. But he knew one thing.

This was his fault.

He had intended for Itsuki to learn his own weakness and desire anything that might make him stronger. It was supposed to teach him that an Archer has no business being a front line fighter and to take advantage of his range. It was supposed to show him who he could trust to stand at his side and who was a fair weather friend.

He hadn't intended to break him. The killing intent he had unleashed was nothing compared to the things he had experience during the grail war. Someone with the potential to be a Hero shouldn't have caved under it.

Yet again, he had overestimated the others, and now Rishia had suffered the price for Shirou's actions, and wanted nothing more than to die. She had just experienced the pain of having everything she lived for stripped away from her. She felt like had nothing left. Like life was meaningless and would never have meaning.

Only that wasn't true. She could find more meaning if she was just given the chance. Itsuki had never been worthy of her, she was just too far gone to see it. If she could get out from underneath the vale of trauma and have people who would care for her.

Shirou traced a dagger with a shining jewel in its hilt. One containing a spell that had once been used on him. "Rishia. I will take the pain away." Shirou said as he lifted up the dagger. Rishia's eyes followed the blade as Shirou lifted it up, holding it to the side so that she could see the runic that covered one of its faces. Then, as Rishia stared at it, Shirou spoke out the activation words. "May you find peace, unburdened. Tabula Rasa." There was a strong flash of light and Rishia fell like a sack of potatoes, with Shirou catching her.

Moments later, her eyes slowly drifted back open. "Wha… Where am I? Why am I all wet?" She said perplexed, her voice lacking any sign of the horrible sobbing it had mere moments ago.

"Don't worry Rishia, everything is fine. You just took a bit of a fall." Shirou said in a reassuring tone, making a towel for her.

She took the towel and looked up at him in confusion. "Rishia? Is that my name?"

"...Yes. It is."

* * *

Naofumi wanted to know what the hell was going on.

A little over an hour had passed since Shirou's sudden disappearance and the massive hole blown open in the room he had been staying in, and everyone was in a panic, with guards having been called in to investigate.

Naofumi wouldn't have cared... if it weren't for the fact that they kept bothering him about it! He was still recovering dammit! Let him sleep!

"This is stupid. We should all just go back to sleep." Naofumi said as he struggled to keep his head up.

"Aren't you worried about what happened to the Shirou-sama?" Raphtalia inquired of him.

"Is his own party?" Naofumi pointed out the group of girls.

Shirou's party was almost completely calm. Firo and Azu just complained about the noise of everyone running around waking them up, and Rita merely acting exasperated at her teacher's sudden disappearance.

Somehow, even though small tiger boy had been in the room when it happened, he hadn't woken up. Nor did he afterwards, no matter how much they shook him. His blind sister said that her brother was tired and should just be left to rest. Kid was a heavy sleeper.

"The only thing we know is that Shirou felt in such a rush as to jump out the window at his top speed. That doesn't mean he was in danger, it just means that whatever he was doing, he had to do it quickly." Naofumi reasoned. "The guy is strong enough to push back Avenger and sneaky enough to infiltrate the castle. If anything was happening that could actually threaten him, I think there would be more evidence of it."

"...You don't think that Avenger came back, do you?" Raphtalia said, her eyes shifting nervously to the window. Naofumi didn't say anything, but looked at Raphtalia from the corner of his eye.

After a few moments, he lifted his hand and patted her head, the same way he had when she had been smaller. "Don't worry. We'll figure out a way of dealing with him."

For a second, Raphtalia let him pet her, with her tails wagging, before she stiffened and knocked his hand away. "Don't treat me like a kid." She grumbled with an unhappy pout. Naofumi could only smile softly.

She was brave.

After losing her entire life to the Wave, and going through three weeks of horror in the slave market, before being bought be Naofumi, she picked herself up and decided to dedicate her life to helping him make sure that no one else went through what she did. To willingly go and face the Wave after just a few short weeks to recover from her trauma was a huge show of character. But even she was unnerved by the Demon of the Sword.

Naofumi couldn't blame her. He personally wondered about how calm he himself was about the entire ordeal. The only questions in his mind were about the future: about how they would continue to travel with the threat of Avenger looming over them, how they could continue to grow in strength to fight the Waves, and how they would eventually bring the Sword Demon down.

Motoyasu proved himself at least somewhat useful, but was only about as strong as Raphtalia, if you ignored his Skills. Itsuki had been more of a danger to his own team than to the Sword Demon. And both of their parties and the castle guards had been absolutely worthless. Rita had been stronger than all of them combined, though even she wasn't up to the task of beating Avenger. Still, Naofumi believed that things might have gone a lot differently if Firo and Azu had been in the audience when the fighting started, instead of stuffing themselves on the free food, and Sadeena hadn't been too drunk to provide support.

The only people Naofumi could depend on was his own party, and Shirou's group. So he needed to maximize their own effectiveness.

With some testing, he had found that even without being partied with him, his slaves and monsters still received both leveling and stats bonuses from being registered with his Shield. So the most logical thing he could do would be to use the money had won fighting against Motoyasu in order to buy more slaves and monsters. Two complete groups of six that can operate separately from each other.

Sadeena could lead a secondary group of amphibious monsters and grind in the sea while Naofumi sticks with Raphtalia, Midori, Sakura and Keel trained near the coast, perhaps adding a new face into the mix. The Slave Trader did have a breed of Filolial that were supposed to be natural swimmers, and a few croc and hippo-like monster eggs.

He also would need to take whatever money was left over and invest in learning magic. Or get Sadeena to teach them. So far, they had been living without, but that needed to change. A few good healers and someone who could perform buffs and debuffs would go a long way to making Naofumi feel better about their chances against strong enemies. And those lightning spells that Sadeena could throw about weren't anything to scoff at, even while she was a low level.

They would become the damage they needed in order to beat even monsters like that Demon Sword. Meanwhile, he would be their Shield. They would defeat him together… or they would all die.

Naofumi refused to die in this world.

"Shirou-sama!" The little tiger girl broke into a full run even before the door opened and tackled Shirou to the ground, shocking him. Naofumi was surprised that the girl had enough strength to get through Shirou's defenses.

"Atla, how long have you been preparing to do that?" Shirou asked as he patted the girl's head.

"Since you got back to town." The child, Atla, admitted moments before Firo and Azu jumped onto the two of them as well. Firo laughing and Azu seeming to just going with the flow.

"Gaoo, Master's all wet." Firo said as she realized that the man's clothes were wet. Not soaked, but still pretty damp.

"Yes, I know. So how about you three get off me before you wet too." Shirou said in a joking manner as he slowly removed them and got back to his feet. Then he turned his head towards the door. "There's no reason to be afraid, everyone here is friendly."

"O...Okay." A girl with dark green hair and twin braids said as she tentatively entered the room. Her clothes and hair were also a little damp and she looked around the room nervously at the town guards and people present. It took a moment for Naofumi to recognize her as the girl who had stood in between Itsuki and Avenger.

What was she doing with Shirou?

"Ah! It's Scaredy Cat-chan!" Firo shouted, before jumping from Shirou onto the new girl.

"Wha!? Why, why is she calling me that!?" The girl said, flustered at the embarrassing nickname, though her expression changed from embarrassment to wonder the next second as she looked down at Firo. "Oh wow, what an amazing costume!" She said as she ran a hand over the girl's lion's mane. "It's so cute. I wish I had something like it."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Master already gave Scaredy Cat-chan a set of lion pajamas last time." Firo said with a confused tilt of the head.

"Master? He did?" The girl said, seemingly confused, her face turning solemn.

Shirou placed a hand on Firo's shoulder, getting the girl's attention. "Rishia fell from a balcony and hit her head pretty bad. While she's fine now, I'm afraid she's lost her memories."

"What? But she still remembers Firo, right?" Firo said in shock, looking up at Rishia with hurt eyes. Rishia slowly shook her head no, seeming apologetic.

"Firo, could you and the others take Rishia upstairs and help her get settled in. It seems I need to straighten some things out down here." Shirou said, glancing around at the unexpected audience.

"Okay!" Firo shouted, grabbing Rishia and heading towards the stairs, with Azu and Atla.

"Atla, I need you to stay back for a bit." Shirou said, to which the girl nodded and quickly returned to his side. "I need you to tell me if you can sense the Bow Hero anywhere nearby?" He whispered to her.

"...I can't sense his aura anywhere." Atla replied.

"I see. Keep trying while I sort this out, would you?" Shirou said before going and talking to the guards, explaining how he had jumped out a window in order to save a girl who was falling from a balcony. He then paid the innkeeper for the damages to the room before tiredly returning to Atla, and by extension, Naofumi who went to stand nearby the girl.

"Mind telling me what's going on? People usually don't just fall out of balconies. Who is that girl, and what does this have to do with Itsuki?" Naofumi asked.

"...That girl is Rishia Ivyred. Just shy of a month ago, her family was tricked into selling her into slavery to a higher class noble. Considering they went out of their way to acquire her… your guess about what happened to her while she was a slave is probably accurate enough." Shirou said. Naofumi winced. Slave labor was one thing, but sex slaves… and a child at that… he was too much of a modern man to be at all comfortable with it. He could see Raphtalia shuddering out of the corner of his eye. "After being stripped of everything she had and losing all hope, Itsuki showed up and rescued her from that hell. Because of this, she decided to dedicate her life to repaying Itsuki."

Naofumi nodded his head. This really was a despicable world, letting stuff like that happen to kids. Maybe Itsuki wasn't the worthless little shit that Naofumi had thought he was.

"So after Itsuki told her she was worthless, accused her of working for Avenger and watched as his companions throw her down a flight of stairs, Rishia's world was shattered. She threw herself off the top of the Castle's tall tower. I barely made it in time to catch her and had to teleport over water in order to break the extra momentum."

"...That worthless little shit!" Naofumi couldn't help but shout.

How dare he. How fucking dare he! That girl had been willing to stand up to Avenger for him and he had thrown her to the curb! Even Naofumi himself wouldn't have done something so despicable. That was lower than the lowest low.

"She didn't lose her memories because of a fall. I erased them to stop her from trying to kill herself." Shirou admitted. "It's only temporary, and the memories will slowly come back over the next few weeks, but it should give her a new lease on life."

"Why? How could anyone do something so heartless?" Raphtalia asked in shock. "After everything she did for him, how could he just throw her away?"

"In all likelihood, Itsuki has developed a Curse Series after the fight with Avenger. Not that we can be sure, since he has left the city." Shirou said, rubbing his eyes, looking even older than usual. "I don't have time to deal with this shit." Shirou then got back up. "I should check on the kids. Make sure everything is alright. We'll have to talk with the King and Motoyasu about what to do about Itsuki in the morning."

"Don't remind me." Naofumi said with a groan.

Why did this world have it out for him?

* * *

 **Apparently people were asking for the list of enhancement methods chapter so that they could use it as a cheat sheet for their own stories.**

 **Well, glad to help the community... I guess.**


	46. Chapter 43

Motoyasu was tired as he waited with his party in the audience room. He hadn't slept much the night before, which was the usual for him, giving his training hours, but it had never felt as exhausting as this.

It wasn't the weirdness of the Wave, or being stabbed in the back, or the one-sided fight with Avenger that got to him and made him lie in bed, staring up at the ceiling. No. The thing he saw every time he closed his eyes was Naofumi with his eyes glowing red and his face twisted by an insanity born from hatred, the cursed fire all around him.

'I did that to him.'

The King had confessed to everything. To how they had set up Naofumi to have no party members besides Myne. How she would accuse him a rape and rob him of everything he owned. How Naofumi had been stripped of everything he had and left in the gutters of the street. How he would have been left in nothing but his underwear if one of the shopkeepers hadn't taken pity on him. And Motoyasu had lent his name to it. He had told everyone who would listen about how much of a scumbag Naofumi was. How he was a rapist, a bastard, and how they didn't need him to save the world.

It was like he had burned down his neighbor's house and then spat on him for being a homeless beggar whenever he saw him on the streets.

It was without a doubt the worst thing that he had ever done in his entire life. Simple two-timing and stealing girlfriends didn't even begin to compare. He had fucked over an innocent man so badly that the guy fell into a pit of despair so deep that he could have ended up literally losing his soul.

This was something worth being murdered over.

He wanted to deny his fault in it. To tell himself that it was the King who had set everything up. That he was just being used. Only, he could see Shirou's expression in his mind every time he tried.

'To do nothing, when you could have saved someone, is no different than killing them yourself.'

Damn that preaching old man. So that's why he wanted to spend a half hour making Motoyasu talk about what it meant to be a Hero. He knew exactly what Motoyasu did. The kind of fake Hero that he was.

Why did he have to be right about everything?

Even before Naofumi had been framed, Motoyasu hadn't helped him. He had left him out to dry when he had asked… no, begged for advice that first night. He had wanted to use his own knowledge to his advantage and distinguish himself among the other Heroes. It was not at all a Heroic thing to do.

Naofumi could easily have blundered into an area too high level for him and been killed because of lack of knowledge. And when no one wanted to party with him, he hadn't suggested to anyone that they should party with him, wanting to keep as many companions for himself, to jump start his leveling.

He had wanted to be a Hero so bad, that he had forgotten to act like one.

"So that's why Oyaji never recognized me as a Hero. It wasn't because I wasn't strong enough. It was my own damning actions." Motoyasu said with a snort, laughing at his own stupidity. What right had he ever had to call himself a Hero?

"Motoyasu-sama, are you alright?" Myne asked him, holding onto his sleeve and looking up at him with her bright eyes. She was so beautiful. How could anyone not believe her in an instant? How could they not want to be with her?

Only…

Motoyasu's head throbbed.

"I'm alright. Just thinking too much. We've got a big job ahead of us, so we are all going to have to give it our all." Motoyasu said, puffing out his chest and giving a Hero's smile to hide his thoughts. A fake smile from a fake Hero.

"I know that Motoyasu-sama can do it." She said, giving him more encouragement.

It only made his head throb more.

"Your Majesty, the Hero of the Shield and the Saint of the Holy Bird have arrived." One of the messengers said. Apparently the 'Mercenary' part was now being censored from Oyaji's nickname.

"Bring them here." The King said with a nod of his head.

Motoyasu turned his head and saw Naofumi walking into the room. The look of disgust was back on his face as he eyed the King, Myne… and Motoyasu himself. While before that look had filled Motoyasu with a sense of righteous anger, now he only felt shame.

Not able to meet Naofumi's gaze, Motoyasu's eyes wandered and saw Raphtalia walking behind Naofumi, doing her best to look sharp and project professionalism, even though Naofumi himself wasn't bothering. She was loyal. It hadn't been the Slave Seal that made her try to run to Naofumi's side when he was falling to the Curse Series. She and Midori were truly loyal to him.

He was a lucky guy to have people like them.

Shirou was also there, still dressed in his usual mercenary attire, dark armor and the red cloth. His movement was much more fluid than the stiff postures of the people around him. He did not glare, but his trained expression was off all the same.

It all went together to make him look and feel out of place. Much more down-to-earth compared to the well-groomed men and women of the royal court.

Though if Shirou was out of place, it was nothing compared to who he had chosen to bring with him.

"Hey Spear Guy!" Firo said, cheerfully waving at Motoyasu as she entered the room with youthful energy. Her bright smile seemed to light up the room and draw all eyes to her. Motoyasu couldn't help smiling himself as the throb in his head started to disappear and he felt his courage returning to him.

"I thank you both for coming. Feel free to stand." The King said with a nod of his head as Shirou and Raphtalia took a knee, with Naofumi and Firo not bothering. The innocent little girl seemed confused about why her parental figure was kneeing. "This was planned to be a meeting with all three Heroes. However, it would appear that Kawasumi-san has already left the city."

"Yeah, we know." Naofumi actually growled, his fist tightening and him somehow managing to look even more pissed off than before.

Motoyasu wondered how they would know about the Bow Hero's disappearance.

"Naofumi." Shirou said sharply, giving the Shield Hero a reproachful gaze before looking around the room. "Your Majesty, is it safe to speak freely here, or are there loose lips that we must worry about?"

The King himself looked over at the various people around the room before looking back to Shirou. "I don't think anything said here will become common knowledge, but I will understand if you must withhold information. Use your best judgement."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shirou said. "We have reason to suspect that the Bow Hero took the fight against Avenger harder than expected, and ended up developing a Curse Series."

"...This is troubling news." The King said as the rest of the room went into a shocked silence.

Motoyasu didn't really know Itsuki that well. They probably hadn't even spoken more than four or five times, and they hadn't really gotten along that great, but he never had the impression that the guy was about to go off the deep end. Sure, Avenger had been scary, but he hadn't been that frightening, but they were the Heroes, how could the guy just snap over that.

Then again, Itsuki had been the youngest of the three of them, only seventeen years old. Not even old enough to legally drive and suddenly finding himself being responsible for the fate of a world. Maybe the pressure was too much for the guy and he was just pretending that everything was alright.

Motoyasu should have tried to keep in touch and talk with the guy. He should have done that for Issei too.

"You're just making excuses for him. I say, he's just an asshole. He was always just a giant, self-righteous asshole." Naofumi said hotly.

"What did he do?" Motoyasu couldn't help but to ask.

"You know that girl who tried to stand between him and Avenger? Well, he kicked her out of his party for suggesting that he work with the other Heroes instead of trying to just showboating everything. He called her worthless, accused her of being a spy for Avenger, and then beat her."

"He what!?" Motoyasu shouted, his own grip on his spear tightening. Motoyasu's eyes went to Shirou for confirmation.

"I found out when I stopped the girl's attempted suicide last night. She jumped off the castle's tall tower." Shirou admitted. "Though he only watched her being thrown down the stairs by his companions. He didn't beat her himself."

""Like that makes any difference!"" Both Naofumi and Motoyasu shouted, not even caring that they were in agreement about something. Motoyasu couldn't believe he had been sympathetic for that little shit.

That Rishia girl. She looked like she was only 14, and had been a cutie. To think that Itsuki…

"I would allow Your Majesty to question her, but in order to prevent her from continuing to try and kill herself, I used my Magecraft to suppress her memories, to give her time to recover. Her memories likely won't return in full before the next Wave." Shirou explained to the King. "Needless to say, this news should be kept quiet, as to not cause further harm to the Heroes' credibility, at least until we can confirm Itsuki's condition."

"Agreed. I'll see what can be done about finding the Bow Hero and his party." The King said with a nod, then he looked at Naofumi. "Iwatani-dono, I have already set word throughout the kingdom to clear you of the charges placed against you, as well as a confession of what part I played in your misfortune. I hope that you will forgive us, and that you will help to defend the world in..."

"You think you can just apologize and that will someone make everything alright!?" Naofumi spat at the King. "You think it will change how you ruined and robbed me!? How you crippled my growth!? How you even tried to have me murdered by your snobby knights during the Wave!? Like hell!"

Tried to have him murdered? Did… did that really happen?

"Naofumi…" Shirou tried to stop the Shield Hero, but Naofumi wasn't having it.

"If you want my help, then get off that throne, get on your hands and knees, and beg for it." Naofumi said, his eyes narrowed.

"How dare you ask my father to bow to you!? Who do you think you are!?" Myne shouted angrily. Motoyasu felt torn. He hated to see Myne mad, but Naofumi had every right to be angry.

But before Naofumi could snap back at the Princess, the King stood up from his seat, and then to everyone's astonishment, he walked down from his throne, went down on his hands and knees and placed his head to the ground. "Iwatani-dono. If you wish to pass judgment upon me for all the crimes I have committed, then so be it. I know I have done things for which there can be no forgiveness." The room was divided between panic and shocked silence at the King's display. Naofumi was as shocked as the rest of them. "But, if you can find it in yourself to postpone my sentencing, I would like to find some penance before I leave this world. Please, allow me to help protect my people. After that, you can kill me if you wish. I will even let you pick the method of execution."

During the silence that followed, Shirou decided to add his two cents about things. "Naofumi, those people who attempted to assassinate you during the wave weren't under the King's orders. They were not official men of the crown, just normal soldiers. Nobodies led by a religious zealot who were all below level 25 and just happened to be in the area."

"And how do you know that?" Naofumi said, looking at Shirou, before something occurred to him. "The rain of swords that helped to protect the village. I thought it was Issei, but it was you, wasn't it?"

A small smile entered Shirou's expression as he gave a shrug. "It's not that I don't trust you with my party members. But a father worries."

Naofumi looked at Shirou for a little bit longer before his eyes returned to the King. He looked like he was having to think hard before he finally responded. "Be glad I'm more concerned with dealing with Avenger right now than you. Otherwise I would take you up on that offer now instead of later."

"Very well. I will endeavor to make myself useful." The King said, getting back to his feet and returning to his throne. Motoyasu thought he saw the man give a sigh of relief, though that might have just been his imagination.

"So, what do we do about Avenger?" Naofumi asked, looking to Shirou, as the authority on such things.

"For now, you, Motoyasu and your parties are going to have to get stronger." Shirou said before bringing out a pair of small books. "I've written out everything thing I know about the Legendary Weapons from my own experience and observing you two and Itsuki, as well as a few things I have managed to figure out and my own theories about them."

"That's great and all, but I don't know how to read the language of this world." Motoyasu said as he walked forward to get one of the books.

"That's fine. I made sure to write it in Japanese, in order to make things easier on you." Shirou said with a smile. "I do know Japanese."

Motoyasu was vaguely aware that Shirou had just switched languages on them, and was speaking in Japanese.

"That journal you gave me. You said it was written by the Old Sword Hero." Naofumi said, seeming to connect more dots.

"Technically not untrue." Shirou with a smile, that made Naofumi shake his head before looking back at the book, his eyes going over the index, the same as Motoyasu's. "Remember, this are probably not all the abilities that the Legendary Weapons have. Even I don't know everything about them. Never assume you know everything."

Motoyasu's read over the list, seeing a lot of things he didn't recognize. Weapon Proficiency, Awakening and Upgrading Weapons, Reinforcement, Jobs, the list went on. He didn't even recognize half the stuff that was written there.

But it seemed that Naofumi was more familiar with most of them as he turned the pages to closer to the end and started to grumble when he read over the 'Title' system and found that he had a title related to being a Heavy Handed Negotiator.

"What is this 'Over Customize' thing?" Naofumi asked Shirou as he reached the end of the pages.

* * *

Shirou flushed at the mention of the newest weapon functionality he had found.

He almost didn't want to say anything at all, least Rin somehow hear him.

Over Customize was something he had discovered just the night before, while trying out the Temper function. After failing four 90% chance of success in a row, he got more than a little annoyed. So he did the only thing that made sense to him at the moment, he decided to throw money at the problem. He honestly wasn't expecting it to have an actually effect.

 **[Over Customize]**

[A Hero can improve the other methods of empowering the Legendary Weapon by spending Money in order to improve them. Money can also be spent to buy Hidden Abilities for individual weapon forms.]

Shirou had spent 40,000 gold coins, or 400,000,000 gp, on fiddling with Over Customize, seeing how it worked. His tests were met with mixed results of usefulness.

For example, while Upgrading the Job system, he had increased the number of Jobs he had decreased the material cost, increased the effectiveness of the Jobs small bonus stats, increase the number of Jobs he personally could have equipped to two, and increased the number of times a Job could be leveled up in one day to two. All for the cost of 5,000 gold.

Meanwhile, the Enhancement system only decreased the cost. And as the cost decrease was linear, while the cost of upgrading was quadratic in relation to level, meaning that for the cost of getting a single level 11 enhancement, you could get almost a dozen level 10s instead. So, halving the cost didn't seem to matter much. You might be able to squeeze one more level out of it, or upgrade one more weapon to the same Enhancement level, but it wasn't the game changer that some of the others were.

He also found that the 'Hidden Abilities' of the weapons could only be unlocked if the Weapons had yet to be Mastered, and that doing so immediately Mastered the weapon. Though the cost of it made it a not-so-efficient way of Mastering weapons.

Everything about [Over Customize] wasn't cheap.

"Talk about pay to win." Motoyasu joked as the function unlocked for him.

"Did you seriously spend 40,000 gold on this?" Naofumi asked in shock. "Where the hell did you get that kind of money?"

"The [Treasury Sword] has a gathering interest effect. 0.1% interest every month, over the course of a thousand years. It adds up." Shirou said with a shrug, making up an excuse.

"Out of curiosity, how much is that exactly." Motoyasu asked one of his cheerleaders.

"You can buy a castle for that kind of money." He was helpfully informed, causing him to give a low whistle.

"Oyaji is loaded." Motoyasu said, sounding impressed.

"While we are on the subject of money. I'd like the Kingdom's assistance in gathering materials for reinforcing and tempering the legendary weapons. I'm willing to pay for having it set up so long as we can use your connections to speed up the process." Shirou said, before explaining to the King about the use of Prani Ore in Reinforcing the weapons, as well as Tempering's need for rare metals. While the kingdom did have some, they didn't have it in the numbers that the Heroes would need. So, they would need to increase the mining operations.

They were all shocked when Shirou pulled out another 50,000 gold and told them to use it to pay for rushing the whole thing. He also gave instructions for Naofumi and Motoyasu to receive a share of the materials as well, and Itsuki, if the boy was determined to be mentally stable enough.

During the entire time, Motoyasu kept glancing at Naofumi with a guilty expression before he finally took a deep breath and spoke. "Thanks for the list, but there are a few things that you are missing."

Shirou and Naofumi looked at Motoyasu with surprise. "Wait, you are actually going to share information? Willingly?" Naofumi said accusingly.

"Hey, better late than never, right?" Motoyasu said before coughing into his hand. "I didn't see anything about [Access Permissions] or [Ability Transferring] in here. While at the Dragon's Hourglass, you can give your party members [Access Permission] in order to allow them to access any of the items you have in your [Item Box], letting them grab potions whenever they need them. It also lets them use the [Recipe] system if they need to."

Shirou checked Jian for confirmation, and sure enough, it was there.

...Shirou wondered if he dare give Firo or Azu access to his [Item Box] and the ability to use the cooking functions themselves. Who knows how much they would eat.

"Master, are you thinking mean things about Firo?" Firo said, giving Shirou a suspicious look.

"What? No. Not at all." Shirou said, sweating a little. If needed, he could make the excuse of not letting children have access to the various chemicals and potions that are in the [Item Box]. It's a safety hazard.

"As for [Ability Transfer], it's admittedly not that useful. I allows you to transfer [Equipment Bonuses] to your party members. So if you have a skill that is redundant, like if you have the [Poison Resistance(small)] and [Poison Resistance(medium)] skills, you can transfer one of them. Or, if you have a stat you aren't going to spec into, you can give it's bonuses to one of your party members. For example, I'm more of a melee fighter, so I don't really need any of my magic bonuses. I could transfer them to another party member so that they could make use of it." Motoyasu explained. "Again, this has to be done at the Dragon's Hourglass."

...That wasn't such a bad idea. Shirou had noticed that Magic was related to how strong your spells were, rather than their cost or the user's MP supply, and it had no effect on his Magecraft. But since the only 'magic' he had was support magic, which was percentage based, he could transfer his Magic away without losing anything. At least, until Jian decided to start learning magic herself. He could also supplement a newer party member's defense with his own in order to remove the threat of instant death. Though that came with its own risks.

"Other than those two, I've also discovered a new method recently." Motoyasu said, really catching Shirou's attention. "After Oyaji started talking about creating more methods for improving the Legendary Weapons, I started to try to see if I could figure anything out. Pulled an idea from another RPG I used to play involving a system for upgrading skills and magic. The basics of it is that you gain a Skill Point five levels which can be used for enhancing some of your skills or magic or buying new skills. So far, I've been mostly just getting new skills, since the Skills become too expensive to use after upgrade. So I'm holding off until I get some more Max SP and regen."

 **[Skill Points]**

[Every 5 levels, the Hero gains a Skill Point which can be used to purchase new skills, or upgrade already known skills or magic.]

 **[Skill Enhancement]**

[A Hero can use Skill Points to empower their skills.]

 **[Magic Enhancement]**

[A Hero can use Skill Points to empower their magic spells.]

Another upgrade method that could prove useful.

[A Legendary Weapon suggests upgrading a Hero's trace and alteration spells.]

[Trace → Trace S: Weapons traced no longer suffer from Quality degradation. Cost: 8 Skill Points.]

[Alteration → Alteration S: Quality degradation caused by Alterations is lessened. Cost: 3 Skill Points.]

'It works with my Magecraft!?' Shirou thought, as he considered the possibilities of such upgrades.

Because of the inherent flaws in his perspective, all of the Noble Phantasms he traced suffered one level of degradation, meaning that their power was essentially halved. So removing that restriction was basically the same as doubling Shirou's power.

The only problem was that the Weapons themselves would all have to be copied into Jian, and would have level restrictions.

Shirou had slowly come to realize that the level requirements followed the same rule of 20 as other forms of leveling. In that if the power of the weapon is doubled, the level requirement increases by twenty. Leaving his Rank C- Noble Phantasms with minimal conceptual powers, that were roughly 15 times as strong as your average blade having a level requirement slightly about 80, with the level increasing with any Unique Abilities they might have. So to double their power would mean putting off being able to wield any of his best weapons until after he had hit level 100. It would already be a while until he got anything with true anti-immortal or anti-magic effects.

As much as he would like to do it, it would have to wait until he was a higher…

[Trace S: Purchased | Alteration S: Purchased]

'...Jian, why?'

[A Legendary Weapon wanted them.]

In other words, she wanted to eat higher quality weaponry.

Shirou had to mask a groan as Naofumi started talking.

"Looks like it's my turn to share what I've managed to figure out." Naofumi started out, before looking at something in front of him, likely his status screen. "I also tried to find any RPG mechanics for games that I used to play that might have worked. The one I found was a sort of achievements list based around gathering monster drops. Basically, by keeping a bunch of monster drops in your Item Box, you can gain small passive bonuses. Most of them aren't very useful, things like +2% damage against a very specific subspecies of monster, but some of it can be useful. I got one that increases all item drop rates from an Elder Treant's bark. It also gave me a boost to the number of party members I could teleport with by one, after I synchronized with the Dragon's Hourglass. The function is called [Item Encyclopedia]."

As soon as Naofumi was done speaking, the related function became available, and Shirou got his small stat boosts, as well as a few gold and item drop rate ups from some of the more exotic enemies he had faced in the last month. But one thing stood out above the others.

[Max capacity of Transport Sword increased by 3. Requirements for Waypoint reduced.]

It seemed that while Naofumi had his teleportation increased by 1 for synchronizing with a Dragon's Hourglass, Shirou had his increased by 3, one for every Hourglass he had come in contact with. So he could now teleport 10 people around, including himself.

"Oh, it's Firo's turn! It's Firo's turn to share! Firo's got something really good too." Firo started to shout, jumping up and down, surprising Naofumi and Motoyasu.

The stray lock of hair that Firo got from Fitoria started to glow before splitting off. Two pieces of it floated through the air to Naofumi and Motoyasu, merging with their Legendary Weapons.

"The Filolial series?" Naofumi said as the weapon series became unlocked.

"There, now you have Firo's blessing!" Firo said, puffing out her chest. "Fitoria says that it will make your allies super duper and that it will help keep away the icky black stuff!"

"Sorry, what?" Motoyasu asked, not following what the girl had just said.

"It will act as a catalyst during your allies' Class Ups, causing their stats to double instead of just the normal 30% increase. It will also mitigate some of the psychological effects of the Curse Series, making it easier to deal with." Shirou translated for the girl.

The onlookers, who had been mostly in a silent confusion as the three Heroes discussed legendary weapons, were more vocal when they heard about the effects of Firo's blessing. Shirou couldn't blame them. It had come as a surprise to him as well, finding out that Firo was starting to develop her own natural Divinity, already surpassing Rider's weakened Divinity.

With time, his daughter might become a full fledged god… Shirou didn't know how he felt about that.

"That's one heck of a blessing. Thank you… um, Princess Firo." Motoyasu said, not really sure how to address the girl who was basically a Divine Princess, but acted for all the while like a young child.

"Praise Firo more!" Firo replied with cheer.

"You did very well, Firo." Shirou said, giving the girl a well-deserved pat on the head. Then, Shirou's face turned more serious. "Now, we need to discuss what to do about 'Avenger'. For this, secrecy is important. Besides His Majesty, I suggest that everyone else who isn't going to be part of the fighting be left out of it."

"Yes. Avenger did give the impression that he had already set up his own spy network. We can move this conversation to the royal study. The wards there should keep out prying eyes." The King said, pushing himself up out of his chair. "Follow me."

Shirou, Naofumi, Firo and Raphtalia all followed behind the King… Along with Motoyasu and his mini-harem.

Shirou stopped and gave Motoyasu a look before glancing at the girls. "Motoyasu, you know that they can't fight him. We agreed before that sooner or later, things would be too dangerous for those who are not actual fighters. Well, that time is now."

Motoyasu swallowed but nodded his head. He then turned to the girls with sad eyes. "I'm sorry. I really did enjoy partying with all of you, but Oyaji is right. From now on, things are going to be far too dangerous. I'm… disbanding the party."

Two of the four girls seemed to understand, if a little disappointed, though Malty and her friend, who had been in on the 'Motoyasu is a human trafficker' plan, protested in earnest, even trying to appeal to the King when Motoyasu did his best to remain strong. Shirou had to remind the King of the dangers faced by the companions of a Hero to stop him from siding with his daughter. And when Malty burst into crocodile tears and rushed from the room, Shirou had to grab onto Motoyasu's arm to stop him from chasing after her.

For a second, it seemed as though Shirou would have to bring the Spear Hero to the ground to stop him from running after.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that it put Naofumi in a noticeably good mood, sparking a spat between the Shield and the Spear as everyone watched, until Raphtalia got between them. All and all, it could have gone better.

At least Shirou managed to get that toxic Princess out of the picture.

* * *

 **Motoyasu needs a new party.**

 **One is going to be a Filolial, but for the others I was thinking of using more Monsters, maybe one human.**

 **I'm looking at a pair of Owlbears as tanks and a Kirin for magic support as possible party members. Since Motoyasu himself has healing magic.**

 **As for Naofumi, he's already going to start juggling multiple full parties. (Which is why I'm confused about people saying that he should get Rishia because otherwise he isn't going to have anyone.)**

 **Planning on him having three whole combat teams and a support team (mostly comprised of monsters). A start towards his future attempts to build an entire town.**


	47. Chapter 44

"According to Fitoria, there are two ways to bring an end to the Waves of Calamity. The first is for the Legendary Heroes to combat the Waves until the very end, over a period of two to three years. The second, is for there to be a drastic reduction in the World's population of humans, demihumans and other intelligent races, as well as the death of all Four Legendary Heroes. I believe this is Avenger's ultimate purpose. To save the World, by killing everyone in it."

After they went behind closed doors, Shirou dropped the bomb on Naofumi and Motoyasu, leaving the two of them shocked.

"You're joking right?" Motoyasu said in response.

"As I've already mentioned before, the World itself has a sort of pseudo consciousness, born from the constant flow of mana in the air, which attempts to keep itself alive. This consciousness itself is divided on how important of humanity is. Part of it believes that intelligent life is the most important form of life, while the other half doesn't view the life of a single man as any different than the life of a single ant. The old Magi had names for these two, calling them Alaya, the Will of Humanity, and Gaia, the Will of Life. Both see the Waves of Calamity as a problem, but their solutions are different. The Legendary Heroes stopping the Waves is the solution of Alaya, while Gaia leans towards the use of beings like Avenger and the Beasts of Gaia, like the Dragon Emperor, to kill us all and be done with it."

"The Sacred Beasts." Motoyasu mumbled. He glanced at the King, but quickly moved his eyes away before the monarch could notice.

"...What kind of level of depopulation are we looking at here?" Naofumi asked, hesitantly. "I mean, yeah, Avenger was strong, but he's only one guy. How many people could he realistically kill in three years?"

"I have no idea how many would have to die, but I wouldn't underestimate the power of the Legendary Weapons." Shirou said with a shake of his head. "At their full power, destroying a mountain would be a simple enough job for one of the Legendary Weapons. Destroying all sentient life on the Planet wouldn't take more than a month or two." Motoyasu and Naofumi swallowed hard and looked down at their weapons. "However, the Legendary Sword possesses its own consciousness, and won't let Avenger act out however he wishes. If he wants to numb the Legendary Sword in order to gain control over it, he needs miasma, and lots of it. Which is why while you two are training up, I will travel to miasma hot spots to try and purify them."

"That's nice and all, but how are we actually going to fight him? He isn't exactly weak, and even if we manage to gang up on him, what's stopping him from just teleporting away and trying again later?" Motoyasu asked.

"There are ways of jamming the Legendary Weapon's teleporting abilities. I've already tested one method on Itsuki when he attacked the caravan. It was effective." Shirou said, before glancing at Firo. "Firo and Azu are also capable of deploying a territory magic, which can jam some of the Legendary Weapons' functions. Would you mind showing them?"

"Alright!" Firo shouted, jumping from her chair and taking on her Bird form in an open part of the room. Firo started to channel her massive amounts of magical energy outwards, causing a distortion around her as a thin mist-like effect became present in the air.

[Firo's territory creation magic is blocking [Transport Sword].]

"Firo's territory magic is now in place. Feel free to try to teleport." Shirou said to the other two, whose weapons might not be so forthcoming with status reports.

"[Portal Shield]... Nope. Nothing." Naofumi said, checking the ability. "That solves one problem. Now we just have to deal with actually beating him once the fighting starts."

"Yes, and there is no guarantee that I will still have an edge against him next time. I've already reached level 100, so I'm not getting any stronger from here on out, and His Majesty can't drop everything and leave the throne to go training to get stronger. When the battle comes, we will be counting on the two of you to do the heavy lifting while we provide support." Shirou said, giving them a little bit more motivation to get stronger.

Motoyasu grinned and made a show of pumping his arm. "You can count on us, Oyaji."

Naofumi gave him an annoyed look before turning back to Shirou. "Please tell me there is something more you can do to tilt the odds in our favor. I really don't want to be depending on that for anything." He said pointing his thumb at Motoyasu.

"Hey, I thought we were getting over this!? Show some faith!" Motoyasu shouted back at him.

Shirou chuckled a little at the to of them. "Well, perhaps there is a little something I can do to help. Just like when two Legendary Hero's are too close together, they interfere with each other's EXP gain, two Legendary Swords might be able to interfere with one another's ability to access the support they receive from the World. Might be able to help weaken him. But this is an unproven hypothesis."

"So you don't even know if you can help. Great." Naofumi said with a sigh.

"Naofumi-sama." Raphtalia whispered to him, trying to get him to ease up.

Naofumi was not happy, though Shirou know that it wasn't because of anything to do with fighting 'Avenger'. Even if the Shield Hero recognized that Motoyasu and the King were both necessary to his continued survival, and even if he hadn't demanded his vengeance, he was still sitting at a table with two of the people he hated most in the world. He was letting everyone know that he wasn't pleased about it.

"Other than that, I can help you by giving you these." Shirou said, holding out both hands and projecting weapons.

Motoyasu and Naofumi both straightened up as a pair of weapons that Shirou held out to them.

To Naofumi, he gave the Shield of Evalach, which stemmed from Arthurian Myth. Though the name was likely obscure enough that Naofumi would have never heard of it.

Blessed by a cross, painted with the blood of Josephus of Arimathea, it had holy protections that could stand up to most C-rank Noble Phantasm, though it itself held no conceptual powers which would drive up the level requirement. It was an extremely strong shield, but Shirou guessed that its Level Requirement would be no more than 95.

To Motoyasu, he gave a copy of the same short spear he gave to Rita, only stronger due to the upgrade on his Tracing Magecraft.

They were powerful weapons, but not nearly the best Shirou had in his Unlimited Blade Works. Something that would make the two stronger, but not make them dangerous.

"What is with these stats?" Naofumi said as he took Shield.

"Isn't this the spear Rita-chan had? Its stats are higher than I remember them being." Motoyasu said as he took the weapon.

"Avenger will probably make his next appearance during the next Wave. Try to get to be a high enough level to wield those before then." Shirou told the two. They both looked at him with dropped jaws.

"You're joking, right!?" Naofumi said incredulously.

"We're not supposed to be a level 93 until close to the fifth Wave!" Motoyasu shouted.

"I don't want to hear excuses. Avenger is already level 70, and he will only get stronger. So if you two want to stand a chance against him, I suggest you get your acts together. No more fancy dinner parties and flirting at bars, and no more roaming around the market district trying to haggle the shopkeepers and hunting wild herbs." Shirou said, causing the two to pause. "It would be best if you avoided large cities in general. Less of a chance that Avenger's minors will stumble across you that way. The King can arrange for you to get provision and any materials you need without you having to waste time hunting for them yourselves."

"But… Oyaji." Motoyasu mumbled weakly, before shaking his head. "We've gotten a lot more upgrade methods now, so I can probably start hunting bigger game. Not sure how, but I'll make the Level Requirement in time."

Naofumi also nodded. "Not sure if I can make it, but I'll do whatever I can, as long as I'm getting the support you are promising me." He said glancing to the King.

"Whatever assistance our nation can provide, we will. Though I hope you know that our resources aren't unlimited." The King said.

"We should talk training grounds. Naofumi doesn't know much about were the best places to grind are, but I've got a pretty good idea. Mind if I use that map?" Motoyasu asked, pointing towards the map on the wall, which was covered in territory lines.

"Feel free." The King said with a wave of the hand.

As Motoyasu started to list off high-density monster spots, Shirou dismissed himself. "Huh? Where are you going?" Motoyasu asked as Shirou and Firo made for the door.

"We've spent too long here as it is." Shirou said waving goodbye. "We all have our own parts to play. I'll see you all later."

"Bye bye Spear Guy! Shield Guy!"

* * *

"Hey, Naofumi. I need need to talk to you about something real quick." Motoyasu said after he and the Shield Hero got away from the Trash King.

Naofumi was in a sour mood still, but he did stop. Motoyasu had actually been trying to be helpful, perhaps out of a sense of guilt or pity. Naofumi wasn't too proud to take handouts. Anything he could get, he would take.

"It's something I couldn't talk about in front of the King, and something that has to be kept secret from anyone at all costs. I'm only telling you because… you have the right to have a say in what is going to happen." Motoyasu said nervously. "It has to do with the storyline of the game I played. From what I heard, the boss monster during the first Wave was a three headed dog, and the boss of the second was a zombie chimera, they were also the first and second bosses in the game. If the trend continues, the next Wave will have a two stage boss fight against a Kraken and a Soul Eater on a flying ghost ship filled with zombie pirates. First you have to kill the Kraken, then the Soul Eater appears. Once you kill that, the wave ends."

"...That's helpful information. What kind of attributes do the Bosses have?" Naofumi asked, wanting to know what kind of enhancements he needed to prepare to invalidate the monster's damage.

"The Kraken has the Sea Monster attribute, while the Soul Eater has been a Fish and Spirit attribute." Motoyasu said. "The recommended level for soloing the Wave was 70, in the game. So if the trend holds, it should be a cake walk."

"Alright, good to know, but why must this information be kept secret? Sounds like it would be handy for the army to know what they are up against." Naofumi asked, crossing his arms.

"Because of something that comes later. You know how Shirou mentioned that the evil half of the World has methods like Avenger and the 'Beasts of Gaia' to kill off humanity. Well, around the seventh Wave, monsters called the Sacred Beasts start to show up and cause a lot of trouble. The first one of them being the Spirit Turtle, a monster the size of a mountain." Motoyasu said. "In the game's story, it starts releasing mind controlling parasites into the world some time after the fourth Wave, turning both monsters and people into its familiars, including top members of the World Government. If the Spirit Turtle finds out that you know about it, then the entire World turns against the Heroes to stop them from stopping it. In the game I played, if you want to the Kingdom for help, it was an instant bad ending. Game over."

Naofumi's eye twitched. "So, we are going to have to fight an irresponsible large turtle that causes zombie apocalypses. That's just great." He said before sighing. "I can understand not telling the Trash King, but what about Shirou?"

"I plan on telling him later on, but I couldn't with the King in the room." Motoyasu admitted. "One of the reasons that I bring it up is because in my game, it was recommended to awaken the Spirit Turtle early. The awakening process starts just after the fourth Wave, but so long as you release the Turtle early, its power is decreased and it won't have as much time to infect the surrounding area with its familiars, leading to less destruction overall. The recommended level for fighting it at full power is over 120, while the recommended level for fighting it when it is weakened is only 80. Another reason to deal with it early is for its item drops, which include the recipe for Yggdrasil, this world's miracle medicine. The stuff is ridiculously expensive because of how hard it is to make normally, but can cure just about anything, which means that there are a lot of people who are desperate for the stuff."

Now that sounded like something Naofumi was interested in.

"If Oyaji is going to force us to be level 90 before the third Wave hits, then I suggest we deal with the Spirit Turtle as soon as it is over. What do you think?" Motoyasu asked.

"...I don't know. Us awakening a giant monster turtle without telling anyone the reasoning behind it sounds like a good way to piss everyone off. I'd rather avoid making myself a real criminal. But if it is as you say, we should probably do it. We just need a way to make sure it doesn't bite us in the ass." Naofumi said, biting his lip. "We'll see what Shirou's got to say about all this. If the stuff doesn't start until the fourth Wave, we've got some time. Besides, I don't think we should even think about opening any more cans of worms before Avenger is out of the picture."

"Sounds good. See you around then." Motoyasu said before heading off. "Keep yourself out of trouble Naofumi! I don't want to hear that you are causing trouble for Raphtalia!"

"That guy." Naofumi said with a sigh.

"It's nice to see you getting along so well." Raphtalia said with a smile.

Naofumi looked at her with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head. "Come on, we got a sack full of gold, so we should invest it now. Having multiple parties to gather monsters faster would speed up how many new Shields I can get. If you see anyone you know at the Slave Market, just tell me." Naofumi said as he started to move towards the slave dealer.

"Right." Raphtalia said cheerfully, following right behind him, always his sword and shadow.

* * *

The Pope was in shock as everything he had spent his entire life cultivating came falling down around him.

His predecessor had always told him that nothing was more important than maintaining the faith of the people. He had entrusted the Pope with the truth. That it was not God who gave his power to the Holy Water and special magics that they depended on, but the people's belief in God. So, in order to keep their power, they needed to keep the faith of the people.

Solidarity had always been a key point, and making sure that no one questioned tradition. Nothing was more dangerous to their power than the possibility of a schism, the dividing of the faithful. But recent events were less of the church splitting in two, than it was a plate being tossed against the ground, with the broken pieces flying in all directions.

No one knew what to do, or what to believe anymore. Where there had once been a single pillar, there were now hundreds of individuals all trying to make themselves heard. Each and every one having their own opinion. Only no one knew what to believe. They only knew that they didn't believe the Church anymore.

There was even the beginnings of a new religion forming. One centralized around Fitoria, the Bird God, and her Prophet, the Saint of the Holy Bird. It was even managing to lure in some of the Church of the Three Heroes' oldest supporters, as the God of the new religion was the enemy of the Dragon Emperor, who was worshipped by some in Siltvelt and Shildfrieden, allowing for old rivalries to continue.

The Saint of the Holy Bird possessed knowledge and power that quickly won people over. His claim of having the legendary Original Holy Sword, said to be kept by the Queen of All Filolials, inside of his body made him a holy man in the eyes of many. The sight of his blood curing heavy curses had caused those who witnessed it to worship him.

He provided answers for what was happening with the Demon of the Sword. He not only had the power to heal, but also wielded all of the Legendary Weapon Forms and was strong enough to push back a monster capable of fighting three Legendary Heroes at once and surviving an attack that had been heard, seen and FELT throughout the entire city from the King of Wisdom's Legendary Star Cane.

It hadn't even been a day since the events occurred, but the effectiveness of the Church's Holy Water had already dropped by 10%, and it was likely to get worse as news spread. Something had to be done, but the Pope couldn't think of what.

Kill the Shield Hero? What would that even solve at this point? Everyone would forget about him at best, martyr him at worst.

Declare all of them to be False Heroes? Then what would they do? The Sword was far too skilled for them to deal with. It was questionable whether they would even be able to find him, and so long as even one of the four summoned Heroes still lived, they wouldn't be able to summon replacements. If they killed the Spear, Bow and Shield now, how would they deal with the Sword?

Accept that the Sword was the demon all along? It went against everything in their texts. It was still questionable if they would even survive the fallout from people's loss of faith.

The Pope didn't know what to do. He didn't even know what to BELIEVE. The Sword had been different from the others but… was he really a Demon? Was their reason something inside of the Legendary Weapons that allowed for that?

No… He needed to keep his faith. Nothing was more important than faith.

"God. Please tell me. What should I do?" The Pope mumbled to himself as he knelt before one of the temple's statues.

"Your Holiness." A messenger said, blowing down as he approached. "Your Holiness, we've received word from Brother Welst on the condition of the Bow Hero."

After hearing the news, the Pope's eyes widened, and a smile passed over his face. "Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways. Even this might be a blessing."

* * *

Malty had lived a charmed life.

She had always just done what felt natural to her, and it had always worked out in her favor. Everything had always gone her way, and even when it seemed like it wasn't it still, in reality, was.

Such as when her mother sent her off to study abroad and she ended up seducing the powerful, up-and-coming, foreign prince and Star Hero, Takt. Something that would doubtless come in handy for her someday. Even though the young man was a naive fool who barely had any claim at all to the throne.

Or just recently, when that bitch Rino was trying to muscle in on the Princess's claim to the Spear Hero, so she knocked the girl out and got her branded as some perverted noble's sex slave, only to have her show up right in front of Motoyasu. It had seemed like a total disaster, but for some reason, the man had been unable to comprehend what was going on, even though it was pretty obvious to everyone else. It was as if his brain had just stopped functioning.

So Malty would admit that when Motoyasu pushed her away, rather than feeling distressed at the possible loss of her meal ticket, she was simply waiting for her natural good fortune to open up a door for her.

So she wasn't all that surprised when she reached her quarters and found a young man sitting by her window with a bible in his hand. She even had the feeling that she had been expecting this very man, though she had never seen him before.

He seemed almost like a Priest, only his robes were black instead of the traditional white. His black hair was short and his skin was a little dark. Even though he seemed to be in his mid-twenties, he had the hard eyes and face of an old soldier.

He looked up at her as she closed the door behind her, though his expression didn't seem to change. He only put his book away and got to his feet. "Forgive me for inviting myself in, Your Highness. I have come here at the request of God to assist the future Queen in obtaining her throne."

A smile passed over Malty's face as the man bowed before her. "I'm listening."

* * *

 **No points for anyone who can guess where this is going, because it is a lot more obvious than the whole Demon of the Sword thing. (And even that I hinted at for a while.)**

* * *

 **Malty's special power, every male around her rolls 1's for all perception checks and wisdom saving rolls.**

* * *

 **Someone wanted to know if Skill Points could be used to buy stuff like Magic Resist, or if it was just activated Skills. My response, *shoulder shrug* sure, I guess.**

 **I feel like a DM with my players constantly asking me if they can do something, and I know each and every one of you guys is trying to break everything I have worked so hard to put together.**

 **Why does everyone hate their DM so much? Is it because all your level 3 characters were killed by that vengeful god? I asked you 'are you sure' twice when you said you were going to steal from that sacred temple. You were kind of asking for it.**

 **(I'm joking)**


	48. Tyr's Mini Chapter

**"'What is Justice?' Hm, that's kind of hard to explain."**

She never did give me a proper answer, just told me to follow her about and that she would show me. I still don't know why I did it. I suppose I must have just been bored with life. None of it had any real meaning to me, but I became her companion. She even gave me my name, as I had never had a need for one before then. Tyr, after a god of Justice that existed in her home world.

She was a curious child, small even by human standards. Hard to believe she was actually the Hero of the Shield. She was constantly tripping over her own two feet, both on and off the battlefield. If it hadn't been for me and the others, she probably would have died. Though I suppose that went both ways.

If it hadn't been for the Shield Hero's power, I would have probably lost myself when the Dragon Emperor revived. Instead, I continued on.

It was the cycle of the Pure-blooded Dragon's existence. We are fragments of the Dragon Emperor, that died in the previous Waves, and when the new Waves comes, those fragments gather again to produce the new Dragon Emperor. Then, when the Heroes and the Bird God kill him, the cycle resets. Only because of my bond with the Shield Hero was I spared such a fate, making me the oldest of the Dragon Fragments, and once, the most powerful.

I still never managed to understand what Justice was before her passing. Humans, even Heroes, have such short lifespans. It felt like I had just woken up one day to find she was an old woman. I retired to a mountain, further inland than may of my brethren dared venture out of fear of the Bird God's wrath.

I was not afraid of Fitoria… much. The Shield Hero had brokered a deal between us, so long as I behaved myself and didn't try to gather the Dragon Fragments, she wouldn't go after me. I'm not sure why I would want to gather them, as all it would mean is that I would become the new Dragon Emperor when the Waves come again.

I fathered many children with my wives, and I tried to instill a sense of Justice in them as well… but they understood it even less than I did. They were just monsters, driven by desires. They killed for fun and sport, not only just for food or self-defense, even killing the humans and demihumans that the Shield Hero had loved so dearly. It wasn't rare for them to kill each other as well, regardless of what I had to say on the matter.

Eventually, I just stopped having children, as they only depressed me.

I spent centuries trying to live by the Hero's ideals. I would go to the Human and Demihuman villages and protect them from monsters and disasters. After a while of doing so, the people started to revere me… though I gained no pleasure from it.

After a while, some of the Demihumans started to claim that I was their divine protector and they fought wars against the other clans in my name… Dying and killing for… What? I still didn't understand. Their words and actions never seemed to match up. Nor did they listen to my requests for them to just stop. It only made things worse.

Over time, as the memory of my friend faded, and the meaningless death never seemed to stop, I grew tired of it all. I started to wonder why I even bothered or if I would ever understand Justice.

I was considering just leaving, moving to a cave far away from the people who never understood me and who I never understood.

That was when I saw the village of misfits. The clanless and cripples, people who in any other city would be forced to live in the streets, begging and stealing just for the chance to survive another day.

It was a place where neighbors were of different races and backgrounds. Where the strong and the weak lived side by side. Where people were different. But unlike everywhere else I had ever witnessed in my hundreds of years, they did not resent each other. They did not look upon a man from a different walk-of-life with suspicion or jealousy. Everyone worked as hard as they could, and those who had something to spare gave what they could to those who had been less fortunate.

As time passed, my curiosity grew. So one day, I appeared before a young girl, only ten years old, who was working to knit clothes for the other children. I still remember her, sitting in a wheelchair underneath a cherry blossom tree, her long blue hair and bright green eyes. Scales grew around her neck and feather poked out from her shoulders at uncomfortable angles. She had been surprised to see me but greeted me with a warm smile and pleasant words as if to an old friend. The kind of greeting I hadn't received since the time when I was a companion to the Shield Hero.

I asked why it was that such different people could live together without fighting one another. She had smiled at me and told me something that I would never forget.

 **"It's because this is a town built on love."**

* * *

I visited the town often, as well as the growing young girl, Rhea, who lived there.

Their lives were hard. They had some of the least fertile land in the region, with wells that often ran dry and soil that could barely grow potatoes. So I helped them. I used my power to change the soil and to shape and underground river to make their lives easier. When storms would come, and would ease them. When monsters would come, I would drive them away. When bandits would come, I would subjugate them. And when things were peaceful, I would talk with the Rhea.

Years passed and she grew into a woman, and I grew to love her.

Eventually, I lost control of myself and I took her with me back to my cave in the mountains… she scolded me for not giving her enough time to tell her parents where she was going. Her laughter at my apology made my home warmer than it had been in a long time.

She stayed with me there and we had a child, my first child of a hundred years. Azu was a beautiful little girl. Perfect in every way, and I loved her dearly, like I hadn't loved any of my children before. She was a cheerful bubble of life and energy that filled my life with happiness.

Yes. I was happy. I might not have ever understood what Justice was, but I had found happiness. Those five years were the most meaningful of all of my long life, and I would have given anything to let them last forever.

Rhea had taught me what love was... and the Aotatsu Clan, they taught me the meaning of hate.

It had been an emotion I had never felt before. I had only known pity for the weak and the stupid, but the day that the Aotatsu Clan kidnapped my Rhea and Azu. When they burned my love alive and stoned our daughter to death, I learned hate. It was a heat stronger than any fire I had ever produced and I let it run rampant. I burned thousands alive in the flames of my hate.

But underneath the hate was the numbing cold of despair.

They had taken my sun and stars. The things that had finally given the world meaning to me after hundreds of years of emptiness. And having felt the warmth of Rhea and Azu's love, I couldn't go back to the emptiness. To live a single day without them would be worse than a thousand deaths, eaten alive by that goddamn bird.

Rhea was too far gone, her body was in pieces. But Azu, even broken as she was, still had some pieces of life clinging to her.

I used everything I had; the power of the Dragon's Pulse, the Fragment of the Dragon Emperor inside of me, and my very soul. I used it all to achieve a single miracle, to breathe life into her once again. And when all of my love went into her, healing her body and reclaiming her soul, I teleported her away to her grandfather's home, leaving my body behind.

With my love traveling away with Azu, all that remained behind in my body was the hate. It went and rampaged across the country, killing thousands, until the power stored within it was depleted to the point where it could finally be killed.

 **"Shield Hero, forgive me, for I do not care."**

* * *

Azu was different after I brought her back.

The happy child no longer smiled and spent long hours staring at nothing. I had to pester her to keep eating, sometimes taking over her body to force her to do it myself. The things that the Aotatsu Clan had done to her and her mother had left deep scars. Scars that I could not find a way to heal. Not only that, but she had started to blame herself for what happened to me, for my loss of longevity as well as my body, no matter how many times I told he that I would do it again if given the chance.

To see her, the last ray of light I had in this dark world, in such a state was heartbreaking for me. I just wanted her to be happy. I would have given anything for it.

In that way, three long years passed, but my little Azu showed no sign of recovering. That was when Fitoria dropped a Hero on our heads.

It seemed as though the Bird God had purposely sent the man our way, wanting the Hero to keep an eye on Azu to make sure that other Dragons did not come after her for her Core Fragment, and that I would keep my promise and not attempt to gather more for myself. As if I would sacrifice my daughter for the chance of a revival as the Dragon Emperor.

The young man had an aura of unbelievable power, warmth, holy energy, metal, and a mysterious shifting of reality itself. It was like catnip to a dragon, and for Azu, it was love at first sight.

She was finally starting to come out of her shell after so many years, so I played a part in moving things along. Using the Dragon Pulse Command to pressure the Holy Sword into adding Azu into the Hero's party, and teaching my daughter how to bend the will of the world to her favor. I even created a replica of my Dragon Core to act as a gift for the Hero, an attempt to buy his favor, as well as unlocking the Dragon Series to further strengthen my daughter.

The Sword Hero himself was kind and patient with Azu, and I found myself liking him.

He was different from the Shield Hero that I knew back in my relative youth. His eyes were old and he had the air of experience about him, so much so that the other Heroes became convinced he was an old man. When he spoke of heroism, it was always as something to be cautious of, speaking of how a Hero can easily stir people up without even realizing it.

Suddenly, the wars I accidentally caused started to make sense.

I heard his story, that night in the embassy, and realized that he was like me.

He had spent much of his life following someone else's dream, hoping that it would fill the emptiness inside of him. And like me, he eventually found people to fill the void. ...And like me, he had those people taken away from him.

While he masked it well, going so far as to run away from the fact himself, he had a hole inside of him that he needed filled, and until he did, existence itself was painful to him.

Well, maybe Azu will be able to help fill in the gap.

 **"I wish you happiness, my precious daughter."**

* * *

 **I think I might have set a bad president in this story.**

 **Now every time I introduce a mysterious new character, everyone immediately believes it is just Shirou in a wig.**

 **I can't even defuse this by having Shirou in the room with the person because they will say that the established Shirou is just Yami or Rita disguised as Shirou.**

 **This is both troubling, and amusing.**

* * *

 **Age gaps probably don't mean much to the Dragons.**

* * *

 **Time for a time skip.**


	49. Chapter 45

"Gueee...!" Firo's unhappy grumblings were growing louder and louder with every minute the party moved toward Faubley's temple, the last of the Dragon Hourglasses that Shirou would have to synchronize with.

She and Shirou were the only ones of their party not looking around at the Faubley with amazement. For both the same and different reasons.

"Easy girl. I know they seem strange to you, but…" Shirou said, trying to calm her down, but Firo wasn't going to have it.

"Master! This is just wrong! It's all wrong! Carriages aren't supposed to pull themselves! Firo is supposed to pull them!" Firo shouted, glaring as what was unmistakably a car drove past them, small amounts of exhaust coming out of the rear. Her feathers bristled at the smell. "It even smells of evil."

"It's called a car. They have a lot of them in the world I come from, and no, they aren't evil. Though some people say that the world would be a cleaner place without them." Shirou said.

"Really!? That's amazing! I've never seen anything like them!" Rishia said. "Does it use a magic square, like Sensei's bounded fields!?"

"It doesn't run on magecraft. It uses something called an engine in order to turn chemical reactions into energy. It basically works like a miniature windmill." Shirou explained. He glanced over and could see the curiosity in her eyes, knowing that wasn't enough for her. "We can build one later if you like."

The girl was always excited when it came to knowledge from Shirou's world. She was a bit bookwormish in general.

On the very first night she had started trying to learn Magic with Rita and had discovered she had a knack for it... If being an Average One could be described as merely having a 'knack' for magic. Like Rin, Rishia possessed an affinity for all five basic Elements of magic; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether. She could also perform healing and support magic and had quickly reached the third level of spells. Much to everyone's shock.

After closer inspection, Shirou had discovered that she had an above average number of magic circuits, even for an Elite Magus, and at a quality that surpassed even Rin's. The girl was a one-in-a-hundred-million talent, and Shirou offered to teach her magecraft. Even though he was grossly underqualified.

This had ended up with all of the other demanding to be taught as well. Rita, Fohl and Yami also turned out to be at least an above average talents. Though none of them nor Rishia could compare to Atla's natural talents, or those of Firo and Azu, who had Magic Cores instead of Magic Circuits. With the benefits of leveling, those three could easily produce as much Od as the Blue. As frightening as that was.

Though anything that required finesse was beyond Firo and Azu's capabilities, they still had a good instinct for it, and Atla took to magecraft like a fish to water. Rishia wasn't too far behind them and even Rita, Fohl and Yami were moving faster than Shirou would have expected.

They were all talented in the field of Magecraft… save for one.

"You know how to?" Eclair asked curiously, as she too looked over at the cars.

The stubborn woman had basically forced her way into Shirou's party, ignoring every good reason for why she, a fugitive, shouldn't go. In the end, the Queen intervened… and told Shirou to bring her along, as well as Yami. Shirou started to wish he hadn't informed her that the number of party members he could teleport with had increased.

Upon hearing that Shirou's Magecraft supposedly had similarities to the Peerless Transformation Style, she started to beg to be taught how to use it. Merely having absolutely no talent in it wasn't enough to dissuade her. She had only three low quality magic circuits to work with. Still, she was committed to the idea.

Shirou wished she would just focus on her swordsmanship, since that was where her talents lay.

While Rishia had accepted the talk about how everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and didn't feel bad that her stats weren't as high as the others, choosing to focus on her strengths, Eclair didn't listen at all. Stubborn woman.

"When I was a little younger than Rishia, I had a part-time job repairing cars as part of my daily practice for magecraft. I would use Structural Analysis to identify any defective parts and then replace them." Shirou said with a small shrug. "I know the entire process for how to create a car down to the refining of the metal and rubber."

"NO! NO CAR! NO! NO! NO!" Firo started to shout, shaking her body around enough to draw attention from everyone around. Luckily, with all work Shirou put into her carriage, the party barely felt more than a jostle. The thing had been meant for carrying large amounts of equipment for the building of temporary forts and catapult. Being more than twelve feet wide and twenty five feet deep, the massive carriage could have fit fifty people comfortably and was more like an extremely wide short bus, or a one room apartment on wheels than a normal carriage. It had been picked from the Siltvelt army's inventory by Firo herself because of its size and weight. The thing would normally take three Filolials to pull it, and Shirou had placed several enchantments on the thing.

It was Firo's pride and joy, and the idea of no longer being the one pulling it was enough to send her into hysterics.

"Don't worry Firo. No car I've ever seen could ever match your speed and strength." Shirou reassured her, trying to calm her down. "Still, while I had heard that Faubley had attempted to monopolize the knowledge left behind by the past Heroes, it's odd to see it in person."

In the rest of the world, guns didn't even exist, but Shirou had spotted more than one machine gun on the escort assigned to lead them to the Dragon's Hourglass. Something that set Shirou on edge.

Thousands of memories, courtesy of Archer, did not speak kindly about government escorts involving this many people with machine guns.

Keeping some things secret from the outside world was understandable, but no matter how good your security, something must have leaked. How could it be that they managed to prevent other nations from imitating the otherworld technology?

"Are you sure that cars are from your world, degojaru?" Yami asked, her eyes on Shirou. Since an obvious spy walking straight into a country that prides itself on security would be hard to explain, Yami had taken on the appearance of a nondescript female adventurer, with average length brown hair, dark eyes and common leathers.

Ironically, her averageness made her stand out in their crowd, but Shirou thought better than to mention that to her more than two or three times.

"Considering how many millions of them I have seen, yes. Why do you ask?" Shirou said, giving the Shadow a raised eyebrow.

"Because cars are a relatively new development. One invented less than a decade ago, degojaru." Yami reported.

"...And what about rubber, and the asphalt that they used to pave the roads? There's also the coolant in the radiators. I've used Structural Analysis on these cars, and I can tell you that even the production methods of the rubber and asphalt are identical. It is all too close to what exists in my world to be just a coincidence." Shirou said with a deep frown.

"I have no idea what you are even saying, degojaru. What is rubber and asphalt, degojaru? I've never heard of them, degojaru." Yami told Shirou.

These weren't first generation cars. They even have airbags and seatbelts, though Shirou doubted the laws about safety requirements that put them in place existed in this world.

"The amount of infrastructure required to put something like this into place… Whoever did it comes from serious money." Shirou mumbled aloud. "Tell me, did guns come from the same place?"

"All of it was supposedly invented by one of the Faubley Princes; thirty-second in line to the throne, Prince Takt Arusahorun Faubley, degojaru." Yami said. "He has been seen as a rare super genius since he mastered magic at the age of three. At the age of five, he created a new way to refine paper to allow bulk production. That was twenty years ago."

"Are you saying that a single person managed to produce what amounts to a thousand years of technological development in just two decades?" Shirou said in complete disbelief.

Bulk paper manufacturing hadn't even existed yet? Going from an 8th century invention to building cars and machine guns? The amount of trial and error required to do this naturally, even for a genius, would have taken years. Unless the man was a shut-in who never left his lab, it was impossible. And even then, it would so closely resemble Shirou's world's technology.

"...It is possible that he was using notes left behind by past Heroes." Yami said.

"And that he, unlike everyone else in the world, was able to decipher them, at the age of five?" Shirou said with a shake of the head. "Firo's right. Something stinks." Shirou gave a deep sigh. "I'd like to say this is none of our business, but knowing how these things usually go..."

"Please try not to cause an international incident, degojaru." Yami said forcefully.

"That isn't up to me. But I'll make sure that no one dares even think of retaliating. Everyone, be ready for combat at a moments notice." Shirou said with a small smile.

""Understood."" Rita and Atla immediately said, as they started to rummage through the carriage and grab at their equipment.

"He isn't serious, is he?" Eclair asked the others.

"Just shut up and put your equipment on." Fohl said as he stuffed his copy of the Lion's Claws into his pockets.

"...My Queen, I am sorry, degojaru." Yami lamented at Shirou's response.

* * *

"Figures." Shirou said as they stopped outside of the large theater-like building which housed the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era.

"Shirou-sama, I can sense multiple extremely powerful individuals inside of there." Atla reported.

"Yes, I know." Shirou said with a sigh. They had sensed them for a while now, but Shirou had tried to keep the hope alive that they won't necessarily be running into them.

Hopelessly overoptimistic.

"Sword-sama, if you wouldn't mind following us, we will lead you to the Hourglass." Said the escort, in the most polite of manners.

Shirou smiled at him. "Thank you. But first, it is time for our early lunch." The man looked confused as Shirou brought out several plates of Griffin Steak and started to hand them out to his party.

"...Is… is this really the time?" The man asked them.

"If you don't want to see what happens when Firo gets hungry, then yes, it is." Shirou said with a smile as Firo started to dig into the large sack of food that he handed to her.

He 'politely' told the man to get lost and that they would get out of the carriage after they were done. The carriage had anti-snooping enchantments on it, so they could talk freely.

Shirou himself turned to his meal and started to eat.

[Griffin Steak: Heavenly Quality - Effects: +30% Attack UP (4 hours), +20% Defense UP (4 hours), +45% Speed UP (4 hours) - First time bonuses: Vitality UP (very small), +2 Speed]

After Shirou had raised the [Chef] Job to level 20, the food he prepared started to give temporary buffs, with especially rare ingredients even giving permanent stat bonuses for the first time eaten. The higher quality the food, the better the buffs.

The buffs didn't stack with one another, with only the most recent thing eaten applying, but they were still worth it.

"What are the odds that we get through the entire thing without causing an international incident, degojaru?" Yami asked.

"They are literally sitting in there, waiting for us. I'd say its pretty unlikely that they aren't after something." Shirou said between mouthfuls.

"What are we looking at in terms of opposition?" Rita asked quietly.

"Can't really tell. There are seven powerful individuals in there which is making it hard to make out the rest of them." Shirou said, taking a sharp sniff of the air. "One seems to be Griffin in nature, two somewhat draconic, and something fishy. The other three could be human, or just something harder to identify. But it wouldn't surprise me to find out one of them could block our teleportation. As for their relative strength… what do you think, Atla?"

"All seven of them seem to be at least as strong as Firo by base. The strongest of them is twice that." Atla said calmly, even as jaws dropped. Only Shirou, Azu and Atla herself were unsurprised. ...Though Azu was a little quiet, even for her.

"As strong as Firo!?" Firo said, seeming more excited than worried.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Shirou said with a sigh.

"Wait, how can anything be that strong!?" Fohl demanded. He was often partnered up with Firo for sparing, so he had a good grasp of just how powerful Firo was. Shirou himself knew all too well the difference in raw stats that existed between him and the Filolial Princess.

And it was a damn good question.

After the Waves in Shildfrieden and Zeltbull, Firo had grown to level 83, and with her growth rate increases and static percent buffs, given to her by the [Beast Master Series] and [Filolial Series] weapons, Shirou's [Father of the Holy Bird] and [Prophet of the Bird God] titles, her Class Up bonuses, and by her own inherited Minor Divinity, her stats were insanely high. She had long since reached the level of power were she would have been able to rip the Mutant Griffin that had once given them so much trouble in two.

Also, Shirou had found out that the 'Rule of 20' stopped being a thing after level 80, when normal stat growth stopped increasing. So whether it was going from level 80 to 81 or from 90 to 91, the stat increase remained the same.

"In order for someone to reach Firo's stats without any sort of growth modifiers from the Legendary Weapons… they would need to be around level 300." Shirou said with a frown. Even after grinding four Waves and having single-handedly killed nearly one million monsters in total, Shirou had only just reached level 95, and that was with the Holy Weapon EXP bonuses. How much would someone have to kill in order to enter the 100s range?

Perhaps the problem lay in that he was only killing the weaklings that came from the Waves. Maybe he needed to go around and find hot spots that contained things like the Mutant Griffin and kill a bunch of them.

Even so, how many of them would one have to kill to reach level 200?

"You don't seem that concerned." Rishia said, though she herself was shaking a little.

"We can leave, and give Faubley an excuse to declare war against us, or go in there and fight them, giving Faubley an excuse to declare war against us. The only difference is, if we go in there, we have a chance of winning, and letting them know that even this isn't enough to stop us. That would make them think twice about the declaration of war." Shirou said with certainty. Appear strong, so that your enemies don't take advantage of your weaknesses. This philosophy held true for everything from a fistfight to a full scale wars.

While these enemies were powerful, their stats weren't so high as to make them uncuttable by Jian, or any of his companions' weapons.

They were more than twice as strong as Shirou was, in raw base stats, with the strongest of them being four times stronger. And Shirou was assuming that their stats could suddenly as much as triple from buff magic and transformations.

These numbers were within acceptable parameters.

"Is there any way that this can go so that it doesn't lead to the possibility of war with a world superpower?" Eclair asked nervously. Shirou was going to answer, but before he did, Azu spoke.

"I can sense them in there. The Dragon Core Fragments." Azu said, getting everyone's attention. She was shaking and killing intent was leaking out of her. "I recognize them, the Aotatsu and the False Dragon who killed my mother." Her eyes flashed red, showing that Tyr's rage was also boiling over.

"...Master. Fitoria says that she wants us to destroy the Dragon Core Fragments. And that if we don't do it, she'll do it herself, and that she will be very unhappy with you." Firo told them as her stray lock of hair glowed softly.

Suddenly the image of a giant bird-like Godzilla smashing up the city came to mind. The massive monster shooting radioactive lasers from its mouth as its spawn eat everything in sight.

"...Does that answer your question?" Shirou said, his face going grim.

God had spoken.

"Rishia, as soon as things start looking bad, cast buffs on the party as fast as possible, starting with Firo. Rita, use debuffs on whoever Firo targets first. We need to trim their numbers. Fohl, Atla, Eclair and Yami, you all will hold off anyone who tries to attack Rishia. Firo and Azu… don't attack them unless they attack us. I want them to be the bad guys here."

The group nodded and returned their focus to their meals. But as Shirou ate, Jian interrupted him.

[Hero, a Legendary Sword's Vassal is in that building.]

'Is that so.' Shirou said.

Made sense. The Legendary Star Weapons were the only thing Shirou could think of that would explain the power inside of that building.

[Hero, no matter what happens, we must claim it. A Legendary Sword doesn't care what the consequences are.]

Jian was forceful on this, which was strange, as she hadn't seemed to care when they had seen the King's Legendary Cane. But Shirou knew better than to argue with her. Wasn't like it would make a difference.

Jian wanted this. Azu and Tyr wanted this. Firo and Fitoria wanted this. Whoever was inside that building almost certainly wanted this.

One way or another, it was about to go down.

* * *

 **Shirou's party.**

 **Shirou - Lv 95 - Job(s) : Chef (level 31), Teacher (level 31)**

 **Jian - Lv Null - Job : Sword Maiden (level 31), Self-Evolution level 7 (Telekinetic Sword level 10 (total cost 20), Create Arrow (cost 20), 100 Points remaining)**

 **Firo - Lv 83 - Job : Beast Master (level 31)**

 **Rita - Lv 77 - Job : Free Lancer (level 31)**

 **Azu - Lv 78 - Job : Priestess (level 31)**

 **Atla - Lv 72 - Job : Huntress (level 31)**

 **Fohl - Lv 71 - Job : Brawler (level 31)**

 **Rishia - Lv 67 - Job : Jack of All Trades (level 31) *Had level reset**

 **Yami - Lv 68 - Job : Shadow (level 31) *Had level reset**

 **Eclair - Lv 68 - Job : Knight (level 31) *Had level reset**

 **In order to catch Atla, Fohl, Rishia, Yami and Eclair up, Shirou partied with them during the Waves while Firo, Rita and Azu were in a separate party.**

* * *

 **Titles:**

 **One Man Army: +10% to Attack when fighting against more than a thousand enemies**

 **Prophet of the Bird God: +20% to all stats for Filolial companions**

 **Ancient Hero: +5% to all stats when fighting a younger opponent ("...I'm only 23. I'm not old.")**

 **Teacher of Heroes: All students get +1% to all stats *less popular story, so lower payout**

 **True Saint Hero: +15% damage-to-Demons, +50% effectiveness of Healing Magic (the irony being that there are no Demons and that Shirou doesn't have Healing Magic)**

 **Demon of the Sword: +20% to all stats when fighting a Hero (Something actually useful. Again, ironically.)**

 **Fireproof Demon: +10% resistance-to-fire-damage**

* * *

 **Shorter Chapter, but that is because I'm going to need to do a bit more reading of Takt before deciding how this coming conversation is going to go. The fight is rather obvious, but Takt's particular brand of stupid is harder to pin down than Motoyasu and Itsuki's. It's a bit of everything mixed together, and it is hard to tell how it will react to such things as, 'your girlfriends murdered my mother'.**

* * *

 **Two weeks have passed since Shirou left Melromarc. The next Wave in Siltvelt will be in another 8 days. The next one in Melromarc isn't for a while. 28 days or something (I'd have to look).**

* * *

 **There is a giant sign on the door saying 'Boss Fight Here'.**

 **"Alright everyone, time to buff up." Everyone takes out a Bento box.**

* * *

 **Is Shirou a hypocrite when it comes to Eclair trying to learn Magecraft. Yes.**

 **Is Shirou a hypocrite. Yes.**

 **I feel like it is in-character. Just like it is in character that with every step he takes going into the city, he becomes more and more convinced that things aren't adding up. And that when things don't add up, it usually means he's going to have to fight someone for reasons he doesn't even understand yet, but are probably good reasons.**

 **Now people probably understand why I had Azu/Tyr's back story last chapter.**

* * *

 **Some of my readers have discovered the horrible truth. Tyr is really just Shirou wearing a wig.**

 **...I tried to correct a misconception, and I created a meme... Heavens forgive me. I can only hope it doesn't spread.**

* * *

 **Shirou: "What is the proper name for a group of griffins anyways?"**

 **Rita: "I think it's a colony."**

 **Fohl: "No way, it's a pride, right?"**

 **Alta: "A gaggle?"**

 **Firo: "You're all wrong! It's called Red Meat!"**


	50. Chapter 46

Shirou party walked in the most casual manner possible, led by the temple's caretaker towards the Hourglass. Though there was the tension of an upcoming battle in all of them. The Priest and official ambassador of the King both seemed to feel the tension themselves, or perhaps the fact that Shirou's party rejected their request to leave their weapons behind when entering the holy grounds had made the men uneasy.

It probably didn't help when Fohl started talking, and alluding to the coming fight.

"Atla, when the fighting starts, I want you to leave everything to me and just stay back with Rishia." Fohl told his little sister as they walked.

Atla frowned at her brother's suggestion. "I'm just as good a fighter as you are, Onii-sama. I can fight for myself."

It was true. In a spar between the two of them, they were pretty even. While Atla had a much better control over her body and a superior ability to read the world around her, Fohl possessed the Beast Transformation ability and an entire year's worth of experience of fighting tooth and nail to survive. Both were what Shirou would call fledglings when it came to technique, but their raw abilities were incredible. It had been Fohl's desire not to lose to his little sister that pushed him to ask Shirou to open up his magic circuits as well.

Before they were unlocked and the boy gained some level of control over them, any fight between the two would be completely one sided, but with the ability to defend against her hands, they were on equal ground. Fohl might even be able to beat her, if he took proper advantage of his superior reach.

The physical age gap between them had grown as in the last weak. Fohl had aged three years and grown to the height of a young man. It appeared that his mixed human blood slowed down his accelerated aging, just like how Azu's dragon blood had sped the process up. So even though it had been a week since he had undergone Class Up at level 60, he still hadn't finished growing.

Meanwhile, Atla might have aged an extra month, much to her disappointment. Shirou didn't know if her genetics just happened to line up in such a way as to deny her the accelerated growth, or if it was the degraded copy of Avalon still in her body that was slowing the process down. It shouldn't have had enough power in it to stop aging, but maybe supernatural aging was easier to slow than the normal kind.

If the current rate of things continued, she would just be starting to hit puberty in another five months, instead of in two years. The thought left Shirou uneasy.

Still, while a fight between the two of them would be fairly even, Atla's abilities made her a terrifying force against unprepared opponents. Even with the gap in stats that they were likely facing today, a single blow from one of her hands would likely bring these people to their knees, if they didn't explode at the point of impact. Meanwhile, the ability to 'break' her arrows made her destructive at a range as well.

Fohl had come a long way in just two weeks when it came to opening his Magic Circuits and projecting out his Od, but without Atla's Pure Eyes, telling her exactly where to hit and how much power to use, it just didn't have the same effect.

If unleashed on the enemy unexpectedly, she could probably kill three or four of them before they even had a chance to realize just how much they had underestimated her.

"It isn't about being capable… I don't want you to have to dirty your hands too." Fohl told his little sister, his voice almost pleading.

"Onii-sama… I am no stranger to death." Atla said softly.

Both Fohl and Shirou winced.

Fohl probably thought she was talking about the time they had spent in the Colosseum, surrounded by the dead and dying, with her 'seeing' everything that happened, the life slowly draining out of people as well as the killing. But while her experiences in the Colosseum were more horrific than a normal person's psyche could survive, Shirou suspected that her more recent experiences had been even worse.

The dream cycle, started by the integration of Shirou's Traces into her body, had continued, and in the last two weeks, she had come to him in the night no less than four times, shaking uncontrollably and once having vomited over what she had seen. In the beginning, Shirou had worried over whether it was his or Sabers memories she was seeing, but as it turned out, he was being optimistic again about just how horrific things could be.

Not only was she seeing his and Saber's memories, she was seeing Archer's as well.

Neither Saber nor Shirou's memories were appropriate for a girl her age, but while Saber's life could be inspirational, as well as bloody and sad, and Shirou's life had some hollowing... and occasionally erotic moments, Archer's memory's were something else entirely.

Shirou remembered his own experiences with them, waking up in the night from dreams so real that he would momentarily forget who he was. On one memorable occasion, Shirou had attempted to chop Archer's arm off in order to escape it, only to be stopped by Rider.

The Servant had to use her Mystic Eyes on Shirou, trapping him inside of an erotic fantasy of her making until he 'calmed down', which was about the time she had milked him dry… the pervert.

Rin, Sakura and Illya had screamed at Shirou for a week about his stupidity, though Rider had been more sympathetic. After all, she had smashed every mirror in the house after she had accidentally used her Mystic Eyes on herself and trapped herself in a fantasy where she was still living on her island with her two sisters. She had only stopped after she had ripped the mirrors on her motorcycle. It had taken her months to recover from that particular episode.

So when Atla had come to him in the night for the first time, completely shaken, and he asked her what she had seen, only to be described a scene where Shirou was tied down to a table and being dissected while alive and conscious, Shirou had felt all the blood drain out of him. He had known the exact memory she was referring to, but it was only one horrific origin story. Just one of several thousands of horrible deaths that had resulted in Emiya Shirou becoming the miserable and broken creature that was Archer. And it wasn't even in the top ten worst ways that Archer had died, let alone the worst things he had experienced.

Even so, Atla's soul refused to give up its hold on the Traces, leaving the dreams to continue. Shirou didn't understand it, why her soul clung to the construct in such a way, until he started to teach her actual Magecraft and started to notice the signs. What Atla had experienced at the Colosseum, watching the death through Pure Eyes as her brother was forced to lower himself to a killer in order to protect her, had broken her down to her core, and so she was creating a new one using the fake Excalibur and Avalon as a starting point, as well as her connection to Jian as one of Shirou's companions.

She was becoming distorted and the beginnings of what Shirou believed to be a Holy Origin were starting to take form, to go with her Holy Element.

Shirou felt guilty, knowing what he had managed to do to the girl, but there was literally nothing he could do about it at this point. The only thing he could do was support her as best as he could.

Every time she had a dream from Archer's past, Shirou would stay up with her afterwards, helping her to cope with what she had seen. He had started to teach her Japanese, as she seemed to like learning new languages. Something that came from her time spent bedridden, when she had nothing else to do but 'look' and listen. Her brother would purposely seek out new languages to learn, just so that he would have something to teach her.

They entered the main gallery of the building and started to approach the massive structure which was the Hourglass of the Dragon's Era, with its red sand slowly counting down to the start of the next Wave. But before they reached the center of the room, Shirou stopped and looked off to stage right.

"There's no need to hide. We know you're there, so you might as well just introduce yourselves." He said, loud and with confidence, startling the priest and politician.

It took a few seconds for the response to come, but soon the people started to funnel out from behind the curtain. A human male came out first, doing a sort of slow clap. Behind him was nearly a hundred women, most carrying firearms. The man was one of the seven high-level individuals, and perhaps the strongest of them, with the five people closest to him being some of the others.

The final one was a Shadow, hidden among the rest of the women.

Shirou had expected there to be Shadows, and had planned for either he or Atla would have to take care of the hidden elements.

The firearms were not a concern. With Shirou's party's equipment and stats, there was little threat of taking damage from bullets. Beyond the seven key figures, the rest of the people might as well not be there at all.

That was good. He would have no need to turn this into a bloody massacre.

Among the six high level women, Shirou identified what he believed to be a human Shadow, a member of the Aotatsu Clan, a black haired Kitsune, and a second human female. The last two were identified for him as monsters with human forms, a Griffin Queen and a 'Dragonewt' (False Dragon). The Dragon Newt appeared to be a lesser species that was pumped up on multiple Dragon Core Fragments, like a house cat that was inflated into the size of a lion.

All of them were powerful. Only the humans, and the fox held weapons, letting Shirou gain insight into their exact level, but each of them was over level 200. Something that was, frankly speaking, unreal. Shirou had been expecting each of them to be level 100, with some kind of growth modification, but instead they were actual level 200s and above. The only modifier they were receiving was a buff from being allied to the Legendary Whip, giving each of them +25% to all stats, or 50% if they were a Demihuman or Monster.

Shirou was curious about it and wondered where they had been hunting in order to grow those kinds of levels… then he noticed something that made the first of many alarm bells go off in his head.

Not a single person in the group gathered before them had any equipment that was more than a week old, and all of it had only ever been used in sparring practices, leaving Shirou no way of knowing where they had been fighting, or their more advanced techniques.

Why? How? The number of people in the world who knew the nature of Shirou's abilities could be counted on his fingers, and nearly all of them were standing right behind him. Beyond them, only the Queen might know about Shirou's ability to read weapons. So how would they have known to replace their equipment?

The second alarm bell came in the form of the man himself, and the weapon in his hand.

"That's some senses you've got there, Mr. Hero." The man said, his voice dripping with smug sarcasm as he walked towards them, the Legendary Whip bouncing against his hip, its blue crystal seeming dim and dead.

"Not at all. You just weren't hiding yourself properly." Shirou quipped, almost mechanically as he evaluated his enemy.

The man was confident in his stats to the point of wearing little more than a biker's leather jacket and jeans for armor, which didn't have a very impressive defense value. His blond hair was covered in a bandanna, keeping his hair out of his blue eyes. All and all, he looked like he belonged on the cover of some kind of magazine for motorbikes, or starring in a movie as the 'bad boy'.

None of that really registered all that much with Shirou. He was too busy looking at the man's weapon...

[That does not belong to him!]

Jian's sentiments were echoed within his own heart as he saw the whip. It gave him the same feeling he had gotten when watching Gilgamesh throwing around his treasure trove of weapons. Yes, they were his belongings, but he was not their true master and did not have the right to their full powers. If anything, they resented being used by him.

It was the same way for this man and the Legendary Whip, only it felt more wrong. There was such a huge disconnect between him and his weapon, that the Whip was incapable of telling Shirou the man's identity, and like with all other Legendary Weapons, its history was wiped clean for him each time it switched forms.

Somehow, though some unnatural power that the man had, he was able to suppress the Legendary Weapon System, which would have normally shocked him to submission for trying to wield a Legendary Weapon not meant for him, letting him force the Legendary Whip to let him wield it.

His forced mastery was imperfect, with him only gaining access to its most rudimentary of powers; the ability to transform the Whip, its Skills, and its unique effects as a Vassal Weapon. He was not gaining the power from any of the other functions that the Vassal Weapons shared with their Holy parents.

Yes, parents. For each of the Four Holy Weapons, there were two Vassal Weapons which were extensions of the former, born from their power. The Vassal Weapons were theoretically weaker, but didn't have the same weaknesses as the Holy Weapons did.

For starters, they didn't have a connection to the World, making them more self-sufficient, and letting them team up with each other and the Saint Heroes without repercussions. Second, they didn't reset with each new Hero, meaning they were free to accumulate power and weapon forms over several generations. Which was why the King could wield power equal to an A+ rank anti-army Noble Phantasm.

Not that this man could do the same thing.

It explained Jian's reaction earlier. The Legendary Whip was one of the two Vassal Weapons with a connection to the Legendary Sword. She must have felt kinship with it, and seeing it being forced to obey someone perceived as being unworthy was sending her into a rage.

Though Shirou could feel more than anger coming from her. As strange as it was, Jian was frightened.

[Hero. Stop him. Kill him. Don't let him take me.]

With the ability to suppress the Legendary Weapon System rules, and being able to force minor contracts between himself and the weapons, the man was basically capable of stealing a Legendary Weapon and forcing it to work for him.

For Jian, it must have been as frightening as slavery.

Shirou allowed his hand to be lowered to Jian's hilt which he patted slowly. 'I won't let him have you, and if he wants to try, he will have to beat me first.'

Shirou assure the sword, causing her to slowly calm down.

[A Legendary Sword places its faith in its Hero.]

"So, what do you have to say, Faker?" The man said, the familiar word drawing Shirou out of his thoughts.

"Hm? What was that?" Shirou said, blinking in confusion. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What were you saying?"

Everyone around Shirou looked at him with dumbfounded shock, and Fohl broke into laughter. "He wasn't even listening to your dumb ranting, you smug bastard." Fohl said with one hand on his stomach. The Aotatsu in the man's party took offense at Fohl's comment and shouted about how a mere Hakuko would dare disrespect 'the Great Takt'.

Well, at least Shirou know had confirmation of the man's identity. No money for guessing though. It was pretty obvious.

While Fohl got into a shouting match with the hundred or so girls in the room, Shirou turned to Yami. "Would you mind filling me in on what was said?"

"It would appear that Prince Takt is questioning whether his country needs your assistance at all and is demanding that you prove yourself in a duel with him. He also says that if you deny his challenge then you will have revealed yourself to be a False Hero." Yami said, omitting her normal tell as she spoke.

"Hm, is that so?" Shirou said, looking to Takt for confirmation.

"That about sums it up." Takt said with an air of confidence. "So what will it be? Will you fight me, or are you just going to tuck your tail between your legs and run away?"

"...I see what's going on here. Your plan is to try to beat me and then use that ability you gained from questionable sources to steal the Holy Sword from me. Then you would claim that the Legendary Sword jumped to you because it recognized you as being superior." Shirou said with a short nod. "Does that 'sum it up' well?"

"Wha… how do…" Takt stammered, unable to find words. But the Priest certainly found them.

"Stealing the Legendary Holy Sword!? That… that's heresy!" The man shouted in disbelief.

"It's only heresy if he loses. If he manages to beat me, then he would be this nation's hero while I would be the Fake Hero, and therefore the heretic. After all, history is written by the victor." Shirou said, remaining calm. "Very well, I accept your challenge. We will have a one on one duel. The winner will be a hero and the loser a heretic. Now, have you set up a location for this? I'm a rather busy man, and hate waiting."

* * *

"Do you have a recording of the prior conversation? Proof of him being a heretic will come in handy later was dealing with this political mess." Shirou asked Yami as the party gathered at the entrance to the arena.

"Yes, Hero-sama, the feed has already been sent to the Queen, degojaru." Yami told Shirou. "She won't be happy about how public this is being, degojaru. Your identity was supposed to remain secret, degojaru."

"The people in charge will just blame everything on Takt. I'm not even entirely sure that it isn't true." Shirou said with a sigh.

"Why the hell are we doing this one on one stuff anyways? We should have just taken care of all of them back at the temple." Fohl said, crossing his arms under his chest.

"It's politics. It's rarely about what you accomplish and more about how you sell it. By fighting by their rules and at their request, no one can complain later. Besides, I don't want to accidentally break the Hourglass." Shirou explained to the boy. "Besides, him having the Legendary Whip is providing all his allies with a sizable buff. Take that away and it would lean the odds in our favor while we are cleaning things up."

"Are you not being overconfident?" Eclair said with crossed arms. "Takt is rumored to be a genius in combat. Last year, he won a major tournament in Shildfrieden just before becoming the Star Hero of the Whip."

"It doesn't matter. No one can beat Shirou-sama." Atla said with a shake of the head. "The fool might have a lot of power, but he isn't Shirou-sama."

"Sensei has sparred against you, Firo, Yami, Fohl and me all at once, and we couldn't beat him, even though our stats were higher. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that this Takt guy can compare." Rita said with a sigh.

"It is entirely possible that I can't beat him." Shirou admitted with a shrug. Shocking the others. "If things go south, we ditch the high and mighty route, kill the False Dragon and the Griffin Queen before they have time to react, and teleport out as soon as the territory magic is down. Then we come back later and assassinate whoever is left."

"You… you aren't serious, are you!?" Eclair said, her voice portraying horror at Shirou's sheer lack of chivalry.

"I assure you, he is serious, degojaru." Yami said with a sigh.

"That's just how Sensei is." Rita agreed.

"You can't do something like that! You're supposed to be the Noble Hero!" Eclair objected.

"I'd rather be the one who lives." Shirou said with a shake of the head. "It is only the last resort. I will give it my all to try to beat him flat out. But we need to make sure to leave at least one of them alive. I need to interrogate them as to how they managed to get to such a high level, and how they knew to replace all their equipment so that I couldn't read it."

"The Queen is not responsible for that, degojaru!" Yami shouted before anyone could even make an accusation. "I… I never told her Majesty the exact nature of the Hero's magic, degojaru. She knows that you can copy weapons, but not about the reading of history, degojaru."

"I never figured that the Queen was involved, but it still begs the question of how he could possibly know. ...And if he knows who I am, how he could be so confident in himself." Shirou said as the signal for him to enter the stage came. "Doesn't matter. You all stay here and use this as a fortified position. Rishia, as soon as my match starts, start cycling buffs on the others. After I beat Takt, the others will make a move, and when they do, that is when you are free to attack."

"Understood." Both Atla and Azu said with short nods. Azu was ready for her revenge. And Shirou didn't have the right to tell her that it wasn't worth it.

They were too dangerous to be allowed to live anyways, if they were the kind of people who would go around pissing off extremely powerful dragons in populated areas for personal gain.

Shirou took a deep breath and walked out in front of the small crowd, made up of Takt's unnaturally large harem. "Come on Jian, let's get your Vassal back."


End file.
